Last night, my whole little family was at my house - all in the kitchen (of course). Lyla, Rachel, Emily and her boyfriend, Frank, were all sitting at the table. Chuck and I were at the counter, dishing up food for our dinner. I turned toward Chuck and patted his shoulder. He said "what was that???" I said"just a pat! I thought you needed a love pat." EMILY said"That was 'Mom's Love Tap.'" I looked at her and said "what's that?" She said "3 pats on your shoulder, and a rub" and then she demonstrated the exact thing I had just done to Chuck. She said "when Mom thinks you need affection, she gives you 3 pats and a rub. If she thinks you need extra, you get a second rub. If she thinks you're really sad, you get a hug, too. But she will ask you if you want one, first."
I am still kind of reeling this morning from this. I mean, it makes sense - I am a very systematic person. I come up with systems for almost everything in my life - bordering on OCD. I just didn't realize that I had unconsciously done it with my physical touches. It's kind of funny, and kind of sad. I will think on it more.
