dealing with my space bubble

I am not a cuddler. I am a person with a space bubble. Occasionally my space bubble even becomes a porcupine skin. Sometimes it's because I don't want to be touched and I am purposely avoiding touching somebody, and sometimes I'm just avoiding it out of habit without thinking about it. Apparently it's obvious enough that when Ryan and I had recently started dating, there was a guy who saw us sitting pretty close together (not even holding hands at the time) and guessed based on that that we were dating because he had observed how much I like my personal space.

(As a side note, I think I'm lucky that I've never had a stranger touch my belly when I have been pregnant, because I really would have no idea what to do.)

For most of my life this characteristic hasn't been a problem, but recently I have become more aware of it because kids need physical touch. Part of the issue is that my kids are wiggly and when they are like that I tend to get away because I don't like being kicked and jabbed, but even then I feel bad because sometimes I find myself saying things like, "I need space!" or "Just stop touching me!" which are phrases that the kids now repeat. But even if they are calm, I often forget to cuddle them or hold them. It's just not something I think about. And I am starting to sense that my kids need more physical love than I am giving them.

So this isn't really a measurable goal, but I am trying to be more aware of this problem and give Kevin and Heidi (and Ryan) more cuddles and hugs. One thing that I know is helpful is to read books together a lot. And as they get older and more aware, maybe we can come to a compromise where we respect Mom's personal space but also have a family that shows love to each other through physical touch.