Not to want to kiss grown up DCs' friends on first acquaintance.

[Busybusybust]

DCs say 'mum, meet X, Y, or Z'. I stick out mŷ hand and prepare to say 'how do you do' - and they bloody pucker up and fall upon me like vampires.

What IS. Wrong with shaking hands and smiling? Why do they want to exchange slobber with me?

It is funny how quickly it's changed. When I were a lass (left school in late 90s), we would never DREAM of hugging/ kissing our friends. Ever.

Now, teenage girls greet their friends every day by screaming/ squealing, throwing their arms round each other and proclaiming how much they've missed/ love each other. Honestly, you'd think they'd been separated for years.

Lots of teenage boys are also pretty tactile - quite ok with stroking each other's hair, putting their arms round each other (outside a sporting context) and putting lots of kisses on text messages/ Facebook posts, even if they do it in quite a self-aware, almost ironic way. ("Look how comfortable with our sexuality we are.")

This has definitely worked its way up to people in their 20s and 30s, and I quite like it. I don't think I would kiss someone's mum I hadn't met before though! So YANBU - not sure how you can avoid it though.

Yes, I've noticed this too. Everyone wants to bloody kiss you!

They take one look at my horror stricken face, step backwards and offer their hand for a hearty shake

Oo bad memories of being forced to kiss sworn enemy-cousins as children! En France. Adults looking at us with big beams. Us with disgusted expressions, hands pinned to our sides. Otherwise adults were fine, I liked smelling them. Perfume or natural human-smell. Feel lucky it's not the Dutch three times!

I hate kissing and hugging strangers which these friends are a friendly smile and hello does me thank you very much. a few months ago a new woman started where i work and on her first day she was leaving and I was like bye see you next week with the she lunged in for a hug I froze , then she went round everybody else and did the same,

Now, teenage girls greet their friends every day by screaming/ squealing, throwing their arms round each other and proclaiming how much they've missed/ love each other. Honestly, you'd think they'd been separated for years.

you have met my 14 yr old then

dd1 isnt huggy but dd2 is a squealer and hugger

I can just about tolerate one kiss and then I recoil, frequently I am grabbed back for another Ffs

I think its nice. Depending on my mood and the hygiene of said kisser

Absolutely detest false hugs and kisses. It feels like an invasion of my personal space and I would quite like to throw up a force field around me. Fine hugging my DC and DH but would like everyone else to stay several feet away from me.

My 11 year old was just swamped by his class mates for a massive hug as they haven't seen him all holiday and he is going to a new school. It was lovely to see such genuine affection without any self consciousness.

justfab maybe we should take heed from the kids and they are open and friendly not like us ice queens

Only if it doesn't make you feel uncomfortable, Mrsjay .

My DC (11 and 15) haven't mastered the art of introductions yet. I usually have to say "aren't you going to introduce me then?" and they then might manage half the introduction - ie telling me who their friends are, but not bothering to say who I am. Then I might get a grunt or a hello, but have yet to be troubled by handshakes or excessive kissing ;)

Hugs I can take but it took me a long time to get used to the double cheek kiss that is the norm around me. I hated it at first, even with friends, so I get where you're coming from.

I do wonder though (almost hesitant to mention this) if it could be a background or a regional thing as well as an age one? I grew up in the North West and went to a very average comprehensive and never saw it happening at all. There was some of it when I was at university but when I moved to the rural South East and started working at a private school I was suddenly swamped with the double kiss wherever I went!

Only if it doesn't make you feel uncomfortable, Mrsjay

i might try air hugging can you air hug

YANBU. And kissing on both sides is even worse!

I personally am 49 and I'll take a snog where I can get it, thanks. Am frightful old luvvie. I leap on any kiss-possibilities that come my way.

I live in NL and they do THREE kisses here ... not on the first meeting though. The first time you meet someone you shake hands, which if you ask me is just how it should be.

In France you kiss people the first time you meet them (socially). It always feels a bit weird to me. Like, I want to get a look at your face and make eye contact, not be nuzzled up against your ear! We've only just met!

Best of all is when the two kisses and three kisses meet. You've just kissed twice and the other person is stepping back, and you're coming in for kiss number three, and everyone gets a bit flustered.

YABU as no one ever wants to kiss me

I wouldn't object to that quite sooo much as I object to Step-FIL slobbering on my cheek whenever he kisses me (he has yet to master the air kiss). Bleurgh.

This does not happen up north