I think that if we don't respect our own feelings as mothers, and don't feel all "warm and fuzzy" when we've been treated with disrespect by our kids, we're sending a message that we have to violate our boundaries to please someone else.

We can say "I love you and I'll always love you but right now I'm upset and I don't feel like hugging you" - or similar. Withholding affection when there's a relationship glitch isn't the same as withholding love.

And if we tell kids to listen to their intuition, not to let people touch them if they aren't okay with it etc., aren't we sending mixed messages if we allow them to hug us if they've been pinheads and we're still annoyed with them??!

Thanks for another interesting read. You made such a lot of great points!