Thursday, June 09, 2005

Ewwwwww!

Muffin Man noticed tonight that Aladdin and Jasmin kiss with their mouths open. And now he wants to.

How do you explain to a loving three-year-old that it's not appropriate to soul kiss your parents?

21 comments:

purple_kangaroo said...

We just tell our kids that Mommies and Daddies kiss each other on the mouth, but that's special for them and everyone else kisses on the cheek. It's worked so far, but they're still very young. :)

Mummy/Crit said...

yeah, four year olds too liz! it is weird, especially since his dad and I don't live together anymore so there's not "mummies and daddies do this" scenario like purple kangaroo mentioned....

Scrivener said...

Ella hasn't exactly tried this, though she does love the open-mouthed drooly thing like AB. But we sometimes do this thing where we open our mouths and go like we're gonna kiss and then we both say "Aaaaahhhh" as loud as we can into each others' mouths (does that description make sense?). I can't remember how that came into being, but she thinks it's the funniest thing on the planet.

Anonymous said...

I think at some point most kids go through it. I always told mine it was inappropriate to kiss other people that way until you were a grown up and that the cheek was the proper place to kiss others.

Anonymous said...

J. had the same reaction, and definitely from the Disney movies. He tried to hold my head and tilt it a little and kiss me on the mouth, "Like Cinderella and the Prince, Mama, and Aladdin and Jasmine."

I just kept repeating, any time this was attempted, that it was Not Appropriate. It was only for grown-ups in love, and Not for kids and their mamas.

Liz Miller said...

Thanks all! Scrivener, I love the shouting into each others mouths, if the "Mommies and Daddies kiss each other on the mouth, but that's special for them and everyone else kisses on the cheek." doesn't work.

SuzanH said...

Yeah, that's a lovely subject. I'm a firm believer in the not appropriate/only for grown-ups in love two pronged approach.

Phantom Scribbler said...

Ok, I gotta ask the obvious question here:

WHY IS THERE OPEN-MOUTH KISSING IN A MOVIE FOR THREE YEAR OLDS????

I mean, they're ANIMATED. They were not overcome by passion, you know? So NOT NECESSARY

I know they own my beloved Muppets, but really -- Disney will be the first up against the wall when the revolution comes.

purple_kangaroo said...

Yeah, if we didn't have a Mommies and Daddies family we'd probably use the "grownups in love" line too. It's just easier for our kids to relate to an explanation that relates to our own family.

Liz Miller said...

I tried the "Grown-ups in love" tack but was answered with "But I love you mommy and I'm a big boy!"

And it's a very good question about why there is open mouth kissing in an animated feature...

Yankee, Transferred said...

Disney has always bugged me for these reasons. I remember as a little girl asking my mother why all the bunnies in Bambi and mice in Cinderella dried everything with their butts. They are way too ass and sex oriented for my taste. But the muppets! Love 'em!

jo(e) said...

I don't think I ever launched into any big explanation. I always just said, "I don't want to kiss you like that." Even at a young age, kids can grasp the idea that you are supposed to respect the other person ....

Liz Miller said...

Oooh, Jo(e) that's a good one. I'll use it tonight if it's still an issue.

Scrivener said...

I gotta say, I'm unsatisfied with the "only kiss on the cheeks" approach. I just encourage them to pucker up and give me kisses.

Oh, the other one I do is to encourage "smackerwackers" which are big old puckered up, noisy "smmmmmmmaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaccccckkkk" kisses. We do a lot of kissing in my house, and the biggest challenge has been trying to avoid having the kids lick my eye--their grandaddy introduced them to that trick. Maybe I'm just trying to compensate for a childhood that included almost no displays of affection, but I think I'd rather feel kind of awkward sometimes than to discourage them from expressing affection.

I suppose at some point, much of that will more or less disappear of its own accord. And I am going to miss the hell out of it.

Moreena said...

Anni's just started the kissing on the lips. And she reaaaaalllly wants to kiss there. No open mouth stuff, though. Still, I haven't really discouraged her, as it feels like she's just trying it out for fun.

Mummy/Crit said...

Wow, Scrivener, you said it all. I get licks too - D'Arcy thinks it's the funniest thing to invite me for a kiss (with a big pucker) and then give me a big lick all across my face. He's 4 and he's going to want to stop kissing his mummy soon, so I reckon I can put up with the occasional lick while he still wants to be close at all - like co-sleeping, I know he won't want to be there for much longer!

Liz Miller said...

I don't mind MM giving me puckery lip to lip kisses, but if he's gonna continue to go for the open mouth technique, it's gonna be cheeks only.

Phantom Scribbler said...

Yeah, I'm with Liz. LG can kiss me on the lips if he wants (he does, sometimes), but if he tried it open-mouthed, the moment would be OVER.

Besides, he told me today that I have very cute little cheeks!

Liz Miller said...

Well, you do!

Julie said...

Lena used to want to kiss me on the mouth all the time. I told her that was Daddy's special place, and after a fair amount of discussion and repetition she got the message. I don't think we have any less kissing because of that (we too are very big on PDA).

I think Disney movies are totally inappropriate for small children. My kids did watch them, but I generally tried to steer them towards old movie musicals like Singing in the Rain. I must have rewound the "Make 'em Laugh" scene fifty thousand times for my kids. And I still giggle every time he pops through that drywall at the end.

Anonymous said...

well don't have kids, but my little cousin sis who at 6 is 12 yrs younger shocked me once.She, during a casual embrace/hug(like when we meet or i give her some gift)brought her face towards me for what i thought a kiss on my cheeks.but shockingly she (almost)french-kissed me. i scolded her quickly-"what's that?who taught u this? kids dont do this.got it"
she laughed something like "hehehehehihihi, just like that" and ran away. was it the effect of disney!