Growing pains...

As a child, I used to get a lot of growing pains. You know the kind...that severe throbbing in the legs, so intense and painful that it feels as though the very blood that runs in it hurts. And the nights were when they came on in full ferocity, making sleep a losing proposition. In those days, my brother was quite small and would sleep with my parents, while me and my sister (younger by 5 years) would share a room. And at night, when the pains came on, I would toss and turn helplessly, groaning, and finally, when no respite came, I would wake her up and beg her to sleep on my leg. A little bit of weight on the leg dulled the pain a bit. And whenever I woke her from her sleep, she would quietly climb over me, wrap herself around my aching leg like an obedient little kitten, and go to sleep, just like that. It would take me a little while longer to follow suit, but her warm and comforting weight really took the load off mine.

This memory came to me last night when I was massaging Winkie's leg before bed. He is now the one going through the growing pains. At least 3-4 days of the week, right around dinnertime, they begin. Sometimes, the timing makes me suspicious, but only for a moment. I know what those pains are like. He writhes about at night and howls from the sheer agony of it. Earlier, one of us would just wake up and press his leg till he fell asleep, but now, I have a slightly different system going. When there is enough time before bed, I massage some balm into his leg....a slow and relaxing procedure, kneading all his little growing muscles under my hands. He visibly relaxes under that spell and lays there like a limp little doll, in total submission. Then I take a cotton towel (Indian style) and layer the the achy portion of his leg in a tight and snug bandage, leaving him with the impression of his leg being pressed. And with all this TLC rendered, he would sink into a deep slumber only to wake up the next morning.

Not so last night! 1/2 an hour into his sleep, he woke up howling and just couldn't settle back. I pressed his leg, I patted him, I snuggled close, but nothing made him feel better. Then finally, I submitted to some allopathy and gave him a shot of tylenol. And then I lay on my side next to his body, heaving with quiet sobs, and pulled up both his legs to rest between mine, and kept pressing, increasing the pressure little by little, till he finally quieted and went to sleep. I stayed like that for awhile ...in the quiet...feeling gratitude for his restful state, and it made me think of my sister. She was maybe 7 years old at the time, and would dutifully climb onto my legs along with her blankie, and go to sleep in that weird position. It was one of the sweetest sister moments, come to think of it. And in return for that, I used to tease her no end.....by telling her that I was actually a ghost from a previous life, and that no one else in the family knew, but her, and if she told anybody, she would be in big trouble...and then follow it up with a Kali like dance to emphasise the horror of it! Childhood...bah!