Dear Eric: We recently traveled to a nearby city to visit my mother. While we were there, Mom’s friend Helen came to visit us. We’ve met Helen before and know she’s a hugger. My 16-year-old daughter Missy, to avoid the inevitable hug, stood on the other side of the dining room table, but Helen, as expected, went around the table with her arms outstretched. Missy, at our suggestion, reached out to shake her hand, but Helen moved to push her arm away. Missy stepped back and said, “I don’t like hugging.” At that point I intervened to redirect the conversation and the topic of hugs was dropped.
