Like most people, my child has discovered the sheer bliss of being massaged. She can be reduced to a pool drooling of dopey being, quietly guided to the Land of Nod if I spend the time rubbing her sweet little body. One of the places I've discovered works wonderfully well on her is if I stroke the top of her shoulders and the back of her neck. Just today as we watched television (advertisements that have puppy dogs are her particular favourite) I quietly started rubbing her shoulders. I love the feel of her smooth skin. Its no wonder advertisers sell creams, potions and lotions to adult women by using the example of soft as babies’ skin. Sweetpea’s skin is so supple it feels as sleek and smooth as spun silk. Gently I started caressing her shoulders with the back of my fingers. I noticed that she was arching her neck when my fingers strayed there, so I incorporated my movements to include her small neck. Little by little, her head started to dip forward. Her eyelids looked like they were becoming leaden and she was fighting the battle of nap time. I gently pulled her body closer to mine and felt her full surrender as she gave up and went to sleep. I stopped rubbing her shoulders and started to massage her tummy. A small sigh escaped her lips, followed by soft sweet snores, bringing a contented smile to my mouth.
Sweetpea has the most adorable way of telling me that she wants me to keep rubbing her body. No matter how often I turn her around to be in the socially accepted position of head on the pillow in the bed, Sweetpea generally turns her body around so that her head faces towards my feet and her feet are up near my torso. And if the quilts arrange themselves in just the right way, she will end up with her bottom up in the air, her little legs bunched up towards her torso reminding me of a frog. Since she was born, a familiar pattern of patting has been created to give her comfort when she is distressed. Pat. Pat. Pat. Stop. Pat. Pat. Pat. Stop. Pat. Pat. Pat. Stop. So naturally, when my baby girl is falling asleep, I fall into the habit of patting her on whatever part of the body avails itself, like her nappy padded bottom. I will keep the rhythm going for 15 or 20 minutes, and slowly stop, thinking that she will be fast asleep. But the other night sleep was not on the agenda. Sweetpea's head arose from the ruffles of bedding, with her hair standing up like the crest of a cockatoo to look at me. Annoyance registered on her face, as she looked around deliberately at my body. Spying my hand, she grabbed it with hers and as she tucked herself back into her frog like position, she firmly placed my hand on her tushie. It must have taken another 30 minutes of bum tapping to get her sleep which meant almost an hour of massage. Smart girl my daughter.
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