Massage Tables and Childhood Memories

By the time I had decided to start a retail business, selling massage equipment and supplies, I was the mother of 3 kids.  My daughter, Kylie, was only a year old when I began researching and planning and she was with me throughout the whole process, right through the painting and shelf-building and setting up of the store.  For some reason, it wasn't until the minute I turned the key to open the store on the first day, that I realized I now had a business AND a 2 year old!  I don't know why it had not occurred to me that she would be going to work with me every day, but now it was the reality of the situation.

We figured out how to make it work.  I set up a play area for her with a little table and chairs, a toy box and we had music and movies.  She would make forts out of large boxes, like the ones the massage chairs came in.  In the beginning, when we didn't have a lot of customers, it was easy.   A year or so later, it became a bit more challenging.  I can remember one time, when I was helping customers, Kylie had fun by removing the shredded paper packing material from a box of massage oil and spreading it all over the store!  Ugh...that was not fun to clean up.

Thinking back now, I can imagine how it all looked to Kylie.  She could barely see over the tops of the massage tables that were set up.  She spent a lot of time playing underneath them, and also taking naps on them.  That was normal for her.  I didn't realize, at the time, that these would be her childhood memories.

Last week, I purchased a new massage table for my practice.  I was really excited about it and opened it up immediately when it was delivered.  After checking it out I folded it and put it in the corner of the living room.  Later that day, something happened that I just didn't see coming.  Kylie (now 14 years old) arrived home from school, as usual, but as soon as she was in the door, she headed right for the living room and stopped at the entrance.  I was in another room, but heard her say to herself, "oh, I love that new massage table smell"!  The next thing I knew, she was setting up the table like a pro (I didn't even know she knew how to do it), and proceeded to jump on it, press her face into the upholstery and take a deep breath in.  She relaxed for a minute there, and then, "Mom, can you give me a massage"?  LOL...that one I definitely saw coming!

Best regards,

Laura