Dear Kathy D. and all, Yeah, that hugging thing can be comfortable or uncomfortable. I go between liking and disliking hugs.......maybe it's related to hormonal swings.......??? It's good to try to "feel out" without feeling the other person. Sometimes you can ask, or wait and look for open or closed body language; or a hand shake is enough, or a pat on the arm or shoulder. Reminds me of something that happened before Christmas during an out patient consult with a mom, dad, and baby. I used the word "team" while explaining how the first couple weeks of breastfeeding are a team effort involving all 3 of them. The dad's eyes just lit up like a light bulb turning on with the word team! I thought, Oh......that's a "guy word"; and this dad really seemed able to relate!! Susan Potts rn ibclc Minnesota Enjoying a set of Patsy Cline cd's while mixing up my Best Buttermilk Pancakes for the week end. ________________________________________________________________ YOU'RE PAYING TOO MUCH FOR THE INTERNET! Juno now offers FREE Internet Access! Try it today - there's no risk! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj. *********************************************** The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html