Too Much Love

I've been living with my boyfriend and his almost 8.5 yr old daughter for a little over 2 years now. I have no kids of my own and was very much a loner child so I genuinely have no idea as to what's "normal" for kid behavior.I've known them since she was 4. She adores me and I care very, very much about her. She's always been a very affectionate kid who likes giving hugs and kisses, sitting on your lap, leaning on your shoulder when you're at the computer etc. She just likes being close to people.I don't want to make her think that I don't want contact with her, because I do! I enjoy hugs and kisses and snuggles. But she takes it so far every time. She can't just give me a quick kiss on the cheek, it has to be 30 kisses. She can't just give me a hug, she clings to me like I'm dying. She won't just sit next to me and read a book along with me, she will like start kissing up and down my arm and quite frankly it weirds me the hell out!Her dad often gets upset with me for trying to redirect her affections elsewhere. "She loves you! Love her back!" he says, sometimes jokingly sometimes not. He doesn't understand why I don't want her kissing all over me. I do love her, very much so, but it still weirds me out and makes me extremely uncomfortable.It's not just me she does this to, either. My parents recently moved to the same town we live in, and the day she met them she was hanging all over my mom like she was afraid she was going to lose her.. even though they'd never met before! My mom could not walk for this child hanging on her arm, begging for hugs. Last year we went in for parent-teacher conferences and she was trying to sit on her teacher's lap and hold her hand.It just seems weird to me? And excessive? I don't know how to deal with it. I've been trying to teach her about "personal bubbles" and asking permission before touching people but it only sort of sticks. She now asks me if she can give me a kiss, and I say yes, but it's still not just 1 kiss.. it has to be as many as she can churn out in the 5 seconds before I pull away and say "ok, that's a little too much."I don't want to punish her for being affectionate, you know? I don't want her to think she is not loved or cared for or that affection is a bad thing.Any advice? via /r/Parenting http://ift.tt/2uw7n9g