Tag Archives: touch

Touch Sensitivity

Sensitive skin is a topic near and dear to my heart — when I was little, I would break out in hives every time my mom changed laundry detergents! My skin is very sensitive when it comes to cleansers and scents. But that’s not the only kind of sensitive skin out there. Touch sensitivity is a kind of malfunction in the tactile sensory system. Sensations that might be meaningless background noise (like the feel of the seams in your shirt) might be uncomfortable or even painful to a person with touch sensitivity (also known as tactile defensiveness). A person with … Continue reading →

The Importance of Touch

What is generally the quickest way to sooth a baby? Pick her up of course! Touch plays such an important part of the parent-child bond, not to mention its almost miraculous ways of reducing stress, lowering blood pressure and producing feel good hormones. While many people may not agree with me, I am a big believer in carrying your baby and maintaining physical contact as much as possible. True, your baby need some time to explore on her own, but for very young babies, especially, there is nothing like human contact. Numerous studies have shown that touch is as necessary … Continue reading →

What Does Romance Mean to You?

What is your idea of romance? Does it mean passion or sensuousness or do you think of it more in terms of thoughtful expressions of love? Some people relate romance to sexual experiences, like the torrid, swept away relationships described in dime store romance novels. That isn’t my idea of romance. For me, romance means thoughtfulness. It is the way we show each other the depths of our love and passion by showing how well we know the other person and doing special things for one another that no one else would think to do. It is personal gestures, not … Continue reading →

Why Don’t Orthodox Men Shake Hands with Women?

I apologize for the title of this blog, since it is kind of one-sided; Orthodox women also do not shake hands with men. However, I felt the gender inclusive title of “Why don’t Orthodox Jews shake Hands with Members of the Opposite Gender (respectively)” was a bit too long, and I find that more often women complain about not having their hands shaken by men than vice versa (it was only in the last few decades, according to a social historian, that women have begun to initiate handshakes.) A friend’s husband who was becoming religious told me that this was … Continue reading →

Tip of the Day- Hug 3 People Today

If I asked you when the last time was each member of your family had a hug from you and heard you specifically say “I love you”, some of us could answer easier than others. Some of us are more “touchy-feely” than others. I happen to be very closed about my emotions. I don’t like to share them openly with anyone but my family. I make sure my children know how much I care about them; the rest of it tends to slip through the cracks. I make exceptions of course, because I realize that others in my circle of … Continue reading →

Loving Touches

Since your baby has been born, I’m sure you’ve felt his or her fingers wrap on yours while they are nursing. You’ve lovingly stroked a finger down their silky cheek. The love you feel begins to swell to greater proportions as you gaze at them and expands to fill the whole of your being when you lift that precious baby into your arms. You feel like you will burst from the pride, the love and the admiration that fills you. You stroke their head, you almost can’t help yourself, and you reach out to touch them even when they are … Continue reading →

The Sense of Touch – The World is at Their Fingertips

You know, it’s hard to pick out what sense is my favorite sense. After all, I love to feel the silkiness of my dog’s fur and the softness of my daughter’s cheek. Touching is so wonderful – whether the surface is smooth, rough, soft, scaly, feathered or downy. There is so much in the world that our toddlers can discover through their sense of touch. The pages of a hard cardboard book; the roughness of their daddy’s stubble cheek; the softness of your own hair – and yes, your toddler will love to run their fingers through it and tug … Continue reading →

“Stop Touching Me!” Symptoms of Tactile Dysfunction

Our skin is covered with microscopic receptors that send information to our brains. This is our sense of touch, or tactile sense. We use our sense of touch to experience all kinds of things from itching, to tickling, pressure, hot and cold, pain, vibration, and movement. The “tactile sense” is necessary for all kinds of activities such as walking up steps, writing on a chalkboard, hugging someone, getting dressed, or testing water temperature. From infancy we require tactile stimulation to meet nearly all of our physical and emotional needs. We even need our tactile sense to develop good social skills. … Continue reading →

Hugging to Educate

USA Weekend had a great article this last week, written by Ann Pleshette Murphy, entitled “Tutor Toddlers with Hugs.” In part, the article reads: “We know from decades of research that children learn best from their everyday experiences with the people they know, trust and love, not in structured environments where they are pressured to perform,” says Matthew Melmed, executive director of Zero to Three, which promotes youngsters’ well-being. Part of my own decision to homeschool comes from the fact that I was homeschooled myself. I was taught in the comfort of my own home, with my mother nearby, and … Continue reading →