Tour de France

It's Friday all day today and that means it's time to get physical! Each Friday, I'm going to offer some tips, research or other information about stregthening the intimacy in our marriages. Last week, we talked about praying for our husband's in the area of temptation. I certainly made that a priority for the last seven days.

Before I begin this week, let me tell you a little story.

We have a rule in our house about what the kids can and cannot watch on TV (actually, we have several, but only one pertains here). They're allowed to watch certain PG movies as long as they close their eyes if people on the show/movie start to kiss. They're so obedient about this that they usually close their eyes even when two people's faces get even remotely close. Sometimes I have to tell them, "Guys, it's okay, they're not kissing. They're just sitting close to each other." But it has worked well for us so far.

One recent evening, Bubby was allowed to stay up to watch a superhero movie with Big A. I can't remember the exact movie. Maybe Superman or Spiderman or Laundry Man (oh wait, that's MY imaginary superhero). But I glanced at the TV and saw the superhero passionately kissing his damsel in distress and Bubby was watching as if nothing was happening (Big A had fallen asleep by this point.).

"Bubby! Why are you watching that? You're supposed to close your eyes if they're kissing!"

"But Mommy," he said, innocently. "They're not kissing. They're just putting their tongues in each other's mouths. Yuck."

Um. Well. Not my finest parenting moment, but Bubby brings up a good point.

There's a difference between a kiss and a kiss kiss.

A kiss is what we do to make boo-boos feel better, to say good-bye before work, to say goodnight before bed, to greet our grandpa or grandma, to shower on our adorable little three years olds who tell us to stop when we know they really want us to keep kissing them forever. That's a kiss.

A kiss kiss, or dare I say on a PG blog, a French Kiss, is much different. It's not even on the same level. A kiss is on the ground and a kiss kiss is on top of the Sears Tower, on stilts, climbing a ladder, up to an airplane.

It's the kind of physical contact that makes us weak in the knees. That causes our eyes to roll back in our heads and arm hair to stand up (and leg hair if we haven't shaved in a few days, but I've been busy and just haven't had time, okay?). That causes us to literally turn to jello from our outsides way down to the depths of our insides. That causes us to drop whatever we're holding at that moment and instead hold on for dear life.

Like I said, mind-blowing. Soul-stirring. Jello-inducing. Leg hair-raising.

And I don't do it enough. Which is sad because I actually have someone to kiss kiss. Our daily routine includes several little kisses, but it seems we reserve the big kisses for only special occasions, or Saturdays, and definitely only within the confines of our bedroom. But why? Why can't we use a big kiss on a Wednesday? Or a Tuesday morning after the kids get on the school bus? Or in the KITCHEN? Can you even imagine?

So this week, I'm making it a goal to have a kiss kiss every single day this week. I'll call it my very own Tour De France. Without the bike. Or the mountains. You can join in too (well, with your own spouses).