We celebrated Thanksgiving last week, and December is a month usually filled with parties and gatherings of all kinds. Families and friends will get together, and sometimes kids can be put in uncomfortable positions.

The Girl Scouts have put out a notice reminding parents and others that girls shouldn’t feel forced to hug or kiss relatives if they don’t want to. If girls want to say no, then that should be respected.

How should parents respond if grandma or grandpa is unhappy that a girl or boy doesn’t want to give them a hug or kiss?

Marcella Gemelli is co-director of Online Graduate Programs in Family and Human Development and Sociology at Arizona State University.