Loving kisses.

A kiss.

to touch or caress with the lips as an expression of affection.

The subject of kissing arose in our house last night.

As you know, when you have kids in the house, you never know what will spring up from a normal ole'- run of the mill -conversation.

We've always told our kids to ask us if they do not know about something.

Don't go around getting different answers from people, who may give them the wrong answer.

We also tell them that if we do not have the answer to their question,

which has happened before,

that we will find it together.

(Thank goodness for Google.)

Hence...our conversation last night.

The word "French kiss" was brought up from our nine year old son.

Yep...nine.

Now before you go gasping like I did...

here is how the conversation began.

Our neighbor came over with her little one in tow.

She had a cut on her little toe, so she needed me to take a closer look for her, and assess the damage.

After patching up her little girl's bo-bo, we began to visit and the kids began to play.

Her little one stooped down on the floor to say hello to our little dog.

Dogs are lickers...

it aint purty, but it's what they do.

As the dog approached her face, she opened her little mouth--this was her way of kissing.

My dog proceeded to lick the inside of her mouth.

Bleckkkk!

It was oh so gross...

and oh so funny at the same time.

She just sat there letting him lick her.

We laughed out loud, which gave her little girl the idea that she needed to do it again.

Ya know how kids are.

This "kissing" amongst the two, went on for several minutes.

Until finally...we had all seen enough, I may have gagged a little,

 and we pushed the dog away.

Later in the evening, after they had went home, the subject of our dog and the little girl came up again.

We all giggled in reminiscing the event.

Again...I may have gagged.

Then somewhere, from I don't even know where, the word "french kiss" came up.

We've always taught our kids that kissing is a form of affection towards one another.

It's how we express love to them.

It's how we greet eachother, how we tuck them in at night, and it's how we say goodbye.

It's what we do.

We lavish their cheeks with loving kisses, showing our undeniable love for them.

We remind them often, how God gently kisses our lives each day with His love and affection for us.

It's a normal and healthy part of loving someone.

God loves that we love eachother.

 But never, never-ever, have we talked about French kissing.

It just never came up.

Not once.

And somehow, in my mind,

 it had become a four letter word.

We were sitting on the couch when Mason says,

"I know what French kissing is."

I gasped!

Whaaaaat?!!

My heart began to palpitate out of my chest.

I began to slowly freak out.

Totally blind-sided!

There is no way that my little boy knows what that is.

I asked him nervously,

"Uhhh...what do you know about French kissing?"

He says with great confidence,

"I know that the French people do it. They go muah-muah (while puckering his lips and moving his head from side to side) on eachother's cheeks when they meet."

To which I gladly responded,

"Yep.  You are right.  That's what it is.  You are one smart cookie."

(In all honesty, and on my defense, it was one definition of French kissing...and the safest one if you ask me.)

Whew!!

That was close.

My heart began to slow down it's pace, as I caught my breath.

I felt great about his answer.

Yeh...that's what it is...

a greeting between two French people.

That works for me!

Mainly because, I had NO answer for it. 

 None. 

 Zilch. 

How do you explain that to a nine year old?

And should you?

And seriously...do you Google that!?

My husband, while looking at me in disapproval, proceeds to correct us both,

"No.  That is not what a French kiss is."

Huh!!

What?!!

Dude..we were safe!

Things were fine.

What are you thinking?!

 I may have blacked out momentarily after that.

Things began to move in slow motion, as I saw the words leave his lips,

"A French kiss is..."

I bowed my head in fear of what was going to be said next.

He continued...

"when you kiss someone with your tongue."

I lost it.

Thanks Hun! 

 It's all down hill from here!

I began to sweat and the room began to spin.

Please no.

Not now...he's just too young.

(There are certain age appropriate times for certain subjects...and I believe that this is NOT one of those times!)

For the love of everything that is holy...please no!!

My son, horrified as I, said,

and I quote...

"Oooh Dad!! That is gross!!"

My poor baby...I could see his little innocence flying out the window.

Bye, bye little innocence...bye, bye.

To my surprise my husband began to go on in detail...

"It is not the way to kiss your grandma, or your sister, or even your aunt.  It's a sweet and gentle way to kiss your wife one day when you are married. So, when you do French kiss, you will be doing it with someone that you love with all of your heart. The woman that God created just for you.  You will be doing it with the same lips and tongue that you say 'I love you' with, so it's not just something you do with anyone. It's a gift from God of your love, and it will be special for both of you."

My mouth dropped in awe.

My son grinned and said,

"Oh, okay."

Wow.

Oh, how I love that man!

I could have run over and kissed that beautiful bald head of his!

That was beautiful, Babe.

Really beautiful.

Thank you for that!

God really knew what He was doing when He gave kids two parents.

When one is weak, the other is strong.

 (Cuz, let me tell ya, I was gonna blow that puppy right out of the water!--or at least push it down and drown it so it never came up again.)

If we work together, keeping God as our focus, there truly is a way to answer all of their questions.

Panicing...is never the right way.

And avoiding the truth, may cause more damage than telling it.

Tell me...

do you avoid answers to questions from your kids because you just don't have the answer, or are simply afraid, like I was?

Please feel free to share any funny moments with your kids and those "blind-siding" questions they may have asked you.

Be blessed!!

2 Timothy 1:7
for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self control.

Proverbs 22:6

Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.

 Ephesians 6:4

Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

1 Thessalonians 4:3-5

For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God;