I seen parents doing that with me as well (even if I’m not offering a hug in the first place) and when the parent scold I always go “ Aw you don’t have to give me a hug if you don’t feel like it! How about a high-five” kids love high fives and its significantly less invasive lol 

Ugh this brings up a bad memory. Both my brother and my dad would tickle me until I was almost hysterical. I HATED it. When I was old enough to physically fight back, they stopped (my brother is five years older than me.)

Yes! I must have read the same article, because from the time my daughter was tiny I gently chided my friends and family who’d say to her things like, “Give Aunt So-and-So a kiss” or “Aren’t you going to hug me good-bye?” Sadly, it meant once she hit eight or so I didn’t get any hugs or kisses anymore either, but…

abusers take advantage of this to groom children, too. it’s a bad habit (insisting children allow people to touch them whether they welcome it or not) we need to get out of as a culture.

When my in-laws have tried to make my nephew kiss me he’s been clearly uncomfortable (and I’ve been uncomfortable at this, too - I just hide it better than my little nephew), I’ve offered him high-fives and you could see his whole body relax and he breaks into a smile and gives the most enthusiastic high-fives. It’s…

Our pediatrician reinforced this. When we go, she says stuff like “I would like to feel your belly. I won’t push too hard, I promise. I would like to do it because it will help me make sure that everything inside your belly is healthy and working normally. If you change your mind or if it hurts, you can say “Stop, Dr.…

she (i’m assuming she, idk) didn’t say she was going to stop all physical contact. the point was that parenting is nuanced and that this brought up a new point to think about. be nice.

We’ve had this rule since before my son was born, and we informed everyone we could think of.

As a child and teen, I had hugs and kisses forced on me by relatives and random family friends so many times, and every time it made me want to retch. And every time I felt I had no choice, and that I was completely trapped. I never want any kid to feel like that.

shut up. she’s a fantastic parent. you’re a turd.

My daughter used to want to hug ANYONE AND EVERYONE, especially men. So, one day, one of her uncles was over (this was relayed to me by her stepmother), and brought a friend, and my kid wanted absolutely nothing to do with this dude, and on top of that, gathered the smaller children (she was like.. five? six?) and…

Whenever friends/cousins are like, “Give auntie Sofar a hug/kiss,” I’m always immediately like, “Or .... should we high five?” Usually the kids are thrilled to high five. And then sometimes they’ll throw their tiny arms around me, too, which is fine.

That is so awesome.

Mm, this hurts. I think I’m fucking this up. I steal my kisses, often. I’ve gotta stop. This article is amazing and I have a lot to learn about parenting. It’s really hard to shift gears, but I will try.

As a child who was repeatedly force by her mother to hug random adults, I very much approve of this message. I read an article (forgot where) that said that parents’ forcing their children to hug others is the first lesson into the demolition of a sense of security and learning that their body is not their own. And…

as a former teacher i’ve seen parents scold their kids for not hugging me goodbye at the end of the day or before holiday breaks, etc.

Playing All Along the watchtower on the saloon piano would be a nice nod.

If the player piano starts up with a version of “All Along The Watchtower,” then MAN THE BATTLE STATIONS, some shit is about go down.

Because I am a historian of slavery and see the consciousness raising of the androids as a brewing slave rebellion I really really really really really hope the awakening of the androids is self-initiated, not provoked for the pleasure or curiosity of one of the programmers!

I was so unsettled by Maeve finding her old drawings; that was one of the most disturbing moments on the show so far, just pure psychological horror.

(ETA: Bernard is TOTALLY a robot, right?)