One of my children told me I was so embarrassing that she couldn’t be seen with me in a store,” says parent educator and family therapist Patricia Morgan. “When I asked her why, she said it was because I was too affectionate.”

Remember when they were toddlers and you wished they didn’t want to be carried and cuddled quite so much? Those days can seem far away when your teen backs away from hugs or shrugs off the arm you wrap around her shoulder, but Morgan says it’s not really so different: “Remember how your toddler would come to you for hugs, then run away to explore? Teens are doing the same — but they’re making a much bigger circle away. They will come back.”

Cathie Pelly, a parent educator in Calgary, reminds parents that even though some teens resist it, touch is still important. “Teens need touch as much as anyone else. For some kids, touch is really primary. Others don’t need it as much, but everyone needs some.”

Originally published in Today's Parent, March 2008