Over the last year, I have been fortunate enough to be one of the therapists to provide Mommy and Me sessions here at the Pittsburgh Center. From the first session I was grateful to be a part of this unique dynamic between another parent and child. The children come in so happy to be be having an “adult” experience, and the icing on the cake for them is sharing it with their Mommy or Daddy. Mommy and Daddy, on the other hand, come in half looking forward to the relaxing experience, but a bit reproachful and unsure of how their child is going to relax in this situation. They are hoping for the best. One of the rare qualities of this experience, to me as a therapist, was watching this parent showing their child how to relax by example, as well as spending some wonderful one on one time together. My favorite part in every session was getting to watch as either child or parent looked at the other relaxing, then closing their eyes with a satisfied and tranquil smile. Inevitably, a moment or so later the other would do the same exact thing. To me this is touching beyond words.

    As many of you may or may not know, I have been attending school again over the last year. Fortunately most of my schooling is home study, but the “hands on” days of instruction & lecture I have to travel leaving my little Lily for 5-6 days at a clip. Lily (age 6) has had such a hard time with this particular portion of my studies. So, the last time I went away, prior to leaving I scheduled a Mommy & Me session for us to look forward to when I got back.

    I thought I had really appreciated the session as a therapist, but this was brought to a whole new level when getting to experience it for myself with my Lily! The attention to detail that everyone at the Center offered made this such a special experience that was so touching to me. We were both greeted with nice warm neck wraps, got a soothing vanilla and orange scented foot soak while enjoying vanilla cupcakes with decadent orange frosting from Vanilla. The time that we were left to soak was so precious. I will always remember her delighted face at the chance to be doing something so special, just her and Mama, and her cute 6 year old antics. After the soak we both got to enjoy our tootsies being scrubbed. Then it was off to our warm “squishy” tables (as Lily refers to them) where we enjoyed a delicious head, hand and foot massage. I was a little uneasy as to how Lily was going to relax with someone other than me working on her, but I was quickly amazed at how quickly she responded to Beth. This by far was the most memorable part for me. I just LOVED watching her go from animated and observant, to so very tranquil and soothed. It was so awesome to have us both relaxed at the same time! Needless to say when our session was over Lily did not want to leave & became quite vivacious again, asking when could we come back again!

    I asked her when we left what her favorite part of our time together at the Center was and she said “Getting to relax and see my Mama taken care of.” I almost cried because then I knew those times when my eyes were closed she was watching me as I had watched her. I feel so blessed that my little bug and I got to have this experience together. We are looking forward to the next time I come back from class to have this special time together again.

    If you have the opportunity to take time out like this with your little one, I am sure it will be an experience you won’t soon forget!    
Bonding at it’s Best