Seeing Myself in My Kids

I was a bit of a hellion when I was a boy. When my mother sees Audrey displaying hyperactive traits, she jokes that I got what I deserved. But seriously, one of the fascinating parts of parenting is seeing parts of yourself in your children.

I have always had a weird habit: I like to interleave textiles between my fingers. Usually it's a blanket when I'm lying in bed or on the sofa. I'll do it compulsively and often subconsciously. It can be annoying to a companion, because I have to keep finding new cool sections of the blanket. When you have the right blanket and you interleave it between your fingers, you get a minute or so of a pleasant cool sensation.

The best blankets for this purpose have a high cotton content because it seems to feel cooler on the skin than other fabrics. My grandmother had a green blanket that was perfect (and besides, it had that "grandma's house" smell). My parents also had a white blanket with blue flowers that worked great. At some point I came into possession of that white blanket and I had it until a few years ago when it finally became so threadbare and torn I had to throw it away.

Audrey has exactly the same habit. She started it very young with the terry cloth tail of "Vegas", her lovey/transitional object that she's gone to sleep with almost every night since she was about three months old. But she also does it with blankets.

She also likes a cool pillow (that's probably pretty common). If she's having trouble getting to sleep sometimes I sit with her to calm her down. We'll get to where I think she's asleep, but then she'll bolt up, grab her pillow and turn it over before flopping back down. She wants the cool side. A few times lately, as a treat, Carol and I have put Vegas in the freezer an hour before bed time. When we hand the cooled Vegas to Audrey in bed she beams at us with joy.

Charlotte also inherited a little of my restlessness. When she gets in bed, she has to flop around from position to position for at least a half an hour or so. She just can't find a position to her liking. I often do the same thing when trying to get to sleep. Although I have it down to a routine these days: position #1 is spooning with Carol (but I overheat in about two minutes); position #2 is rolled over on my other side; and position #3 is on my stomach with a pillow lengthwise under half my body from shoulder to hip. That usually does it for me. Hopefully, Charlotte will figure out her own routine soon enough.