My boys aren't really cuddly either. They are always moving. But at bedtime I do hop into each of their beds for a few minutes to put my arms around them and snuggle. They don't like when it's cut too short or if I somehow can't do it. So I know they like it, I just think they have enough of what they need, and I try to get what I need by snuggling then. Every so often I'll stop one and ask for a hug, because I need it :D

My boys love to cuddle, especially for their night time story. My 4 1/2 yr old always wants to be warm in mommy's nest, a line he got from the Little Bunny Biddle Bunny book. I'm actually surprised he still likes to cuddle with me still, I thought he would be over that by now. I'll cuddle with them as long as I can because I know too soon they will not want to be around their mom! Actually he is hugging me right now and saying I love you and I just got a kiss.

I grew up in a house where we weren't hugged/kissed very often but you know, I felt loved.

As an adult, I am not a demonstrative person. It took a long time for me to become comfortable with kissing hello with DH's family.

I do like to hug and kiss my own children though, and I have one child that is happy to cuddle up any time, will impulsively hug or kiss me/DH etc Then I have another child that will give me a hug if I hug him first, but he does not initiate it. I can see the difference in their personalities, and I think that has a lot to do with it.

We are cuddle addicts! Sarah is the most affectionate kid I know. I grew up in a cuddly affectionate house and we still hug and kiss all the time. Dh didn't, in fact I don't think I've ever heard him tell his mom or dad "I Love You" in the 12 years I've known him. Obviously this didn't really affect him though, or I easily rubbed off on him, because he is very affectionate with me and dd and always telling us he loves us.

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Jennifer
dd Sarah 1/4/02
ds Brady 1/15/07

I am definately a lovey cuddly mom. I was raised that way and still am that way to this day. Always telling the kids I love them...dh or my parents. You just never know. My ds is at a very busy age and doesn't cuddle often but last night he climbed up into my lap and it was sooo nice!!

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Now that's a beautiful picture. Thanks, Kel. I'm smiling now.

P -- thanks. :D I needed that.

That's the most important thing.

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The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.
-- H. L. Mencken

My kids are cuddlers...Both Dh and I were very affectionate and 'cuddly' with them from day 1.
They have their moments that they don't feel like it, but then those precious moments when DS climbs into my lap, grabs my face tells me he loves me and checks to see if my heart is still beating "Yup,still beating!' just make my days! And DD will occasionally climb into my bed on the weekend and tell me she needs some "Snuggle time". Those are the best!

And no, we weren't an overly affectionate family growing up, but like Oregano said....I felt loved.

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I agree that it's somewhat personality based. My dd is actually much less of a cuddler than my ds. When he was little he was the most affectionate child alive. He told me he loved me (no joke) probably a hundred times a day, and twisted my hair to go to sleep. Even when he got older it was the family joke for him to quit "mauling" mommy to death. He was always all over me. He's now in the throes of puberty, and is taller than me, so not so much lap sitting LOL, but he still sits next to me on the couch and snuggles quite a bit. My dd on the other hand, even family members mention how uncomfortable she is withaffection--she "stiffens" when people try to hug her. She's a sweet, thoughtful child, but she isn't the "i love you" or cuddle a bunch type girl. The wierd thing is that this past summer (when she turned 16) all of a sudden she's become more affectionate with me. She sits next to me on the couch and lays her head on me quite a bit now. I'm not sure she'll ever be the world's most affectionate child though....just not in her nature. It used to really bother me...like I'd done something wrong...but I finally had to realize it's just her personality, and stop thinking it was something I'd done.

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We are snugglin' fools. At any given time of day, you may find all 5 of us in the bed "snugglin' like monkeys":D . The girls say "It's time to snuggle like monkeys!" and off we go. We are extremely touchy feely in this house.


Dh has left many a message on the answering machine,"Would you get out of that bed, quit snugglin' like monkeys, and answer the phone?!!!"