Friday, July 10, 2009

Foot fe*tish

Sam walked over to my friend J, bent down and inspected her toenails, then gave the big toenail a few rubs with the pad of his thumb.  Then without saying a word, he stood up and walked away.
 
J looked at me and said, "What was that all about?"  I chuckled nervously and joked, "Oh, just a bit of a foot fe*tish.  He gets that from his father."
 
But the truth is so much more than that.  I think it started when he was a wee baby who didn't like to sleep in his crib.  I'd camp out in a sleeping bag on the floor next to his crib and snake my arm up through the railing so he could hold my hand and know I was still there.  He'd rub my fingernails gently as he drifted off to sleep, and then I'd carefully disentangle my hand from his grasp so I could make my way to my own bed.
 
Until he was about 2 years old, he also insisted on rubbing my fingernails when we were in the car for long stretches.  I'd finally have to say "no more" when my arm threatened to fall off from the weird angle it was at in order to reach his carseat.  Then I'd listen to wails of "Hand, hand!" as he begged for me to return my beloved fingernails to his possession.
 
One day his daycare teacher mentioned to me that he liked to rub her fingernails as he fell asleep.  I felt oddly betrayed, thinking But I thought MY fingernails were the only ones he loved
 
When summer came around and the bare feet came out, it became obvious that toenails were far superior due to their larger rubbing surface.  Recently, Sam told me how much he loved my toenails.  "They're so....rubby," he explained.
 
I think maybe I see a future for him in podiatry.
 

2 comments:

  1. Oh Becky I am so glad I am not the only mom!! So many of your stories I am like that is ME! LOL in this story it is the wrenching your arm back and hoping it doesn't fall off! Laura also yells hand hand! Rubbing the fingernails that is cute nothing my girls have picked up however I know the feeling of betrayal I use to fight that a lot when the kids went to daycare:)
    Now that they are with Grandma it doesn't seem to be a problem with me.
    :)
    Thanks for the great story you inspire me to write more on my blog!

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  2. It's nice to know that you can relate! It's good to know I'm not alone. :-)

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