EW!

Don't do that again.

I have an old memory I bring up now and then, particularly when I'm under domestic stress.

I was...oh, eight or nine years old. I had just left my bedroom to get a snack or drink from the kitchen when I glimpsed Mom disappearing into Dad's study. Then I noticed a toy lying by the doorway.

I strolled over to retrieve the toy and, in my innocence, glanced into the study. Dad was at his computer, and Mom was standing behind him, her hands lightly resting on his shoulders. As I watched, Mom leaned over one shoulder, reaching around to place a hand under his chin, lifting and turning his head for a kiss.

It was a long kiss as kisses go. After what seemed like forever, it looked like they were finally going to stop when Dad raised one hand to the back of Mom's head.

Dad! What are you doing? That's just going to make the kiss last longer!

Ew!

I was right! But the kiss finally had to end. People gotta breathe sometime.

Now, I knew that grown-ups, especially my parents, liked to go around kissing each other. But when I could see Dad's face again, he was frowning.

"Don't do that again," he told Mom.

She turned her head in surprise. "Why not?"

"Because I might get to enjoy it too much...long for it...devote my life to it. Then where would I be?"

Smiling, Mom lightly brushed her thumb across Dad's lips. "Under my complete and utter control!" Her voice was soft, almost a purr.

"Well," Dad said seriously. "When you say it like that...it doesn't sound quite so bad."

Then they started moving together for ANOTHER KISS!

I snatched up my toy and ran to the safety of my room.