Brush Your Mousey's Hair

Once upon a time there was a good mommy mouse. (Well actually she was a rat, but I don't like rats, so I'm using artistic license with the story.) And as in any good story, there was a bad mommy mouse. The good mommy mouse wanted to make sure that her pups were clean and well fed, so she groomed and licked them until their little mousey-fur shone, and she fed them until their little mousey-bellies were full and chubby. Now the other mommy mouse was very very distracted. Busy. Nervous. She didn't spend so much time feeding and grooming her little ones.

In time, all of the baby mice grew up. Oh, I nearly forgot to mention that all of the mice were being observed by a benevolent giant...Dr. Moshe Szyf.  Dr. Szyf had this idea. He thought that maybe, just maybe, you and I are more than our genetic code. So he watched the mice.

Well, the mice with the nurturing mom turned out different than those of the bad mom. They were stronger, more confident, happier little mice. 'Bad' mommy's babies grew up to be nervous wrecks.

And Dr. Szyf discovered something huge. Apparently, good momma's licking had imprinted something onto her babies' DNA, something that would stay with them for their entire lives; a sense of well-being in their world. Apparently, our DNA can be altered by life experiences. It's called the science of epigenetics. Look it up! http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/epigenetics/rats/

Why is this important to me or you?  Well, for one thing, as Ricky Ricardo used to say to Lucy, it 'splains' some things to me about my 'nervous' inclinations. That's all I'm gonna share 'bout that!

All personal things aside, we know it's true that kids who grow up in stressful environments grow up to be more anxious, more sickly, more depressed, and more unhappy. Wow, that's depressing! But of course the good news for you and me and anyone who dares to believe it is that Jesus can turn water into wine; and if he can change the molecular structure of water, he can certainly alter a few faulty genes in my body! Hallelujia! So, my nervous-mousey friends, take heart and look up these verses...
Joel 2:25, Colossians 1:13, II Corinthains 5:17-18, Psalms 45:10, 3 John 2, Philippians 3:13


But lets talk about prevention. What can we do to raise healthy little mousies? Maybe we should start with something easy, like brushing their hair. Do you remember when mamma or sister or auntie used to sit and brush your hair? Not that head-raking you got when you were late for school and there were exactly 30 seconds to get your bed-head in order before you raced out to catch the bus. No, I'm talking about slow, methodic strokes; relaxing and almost sensual hair-brushing. When did you last do that? When did someone last do that for you? Ladies, isn't this part of the experience we look for at the salon? There's just something about being stroked by another person. Even our pets need it.

I see hundreds of children every day. Some look as though they've never seen a hairbrush in their lives. It's not the worst thing for a child to have scruffy hair. Next to hunger and homelessness and abuse it's pretty insignificant. But often those children are hyper. Nervous. Hard to manage. Could it be that their scruffiness is an indication of a nervous, distracted mousey mamma? Is she taking any time for nurturing her little pups? She's probably frantic, just trying to keep food on the table. Problem is, her babies will probably grow up to be frantic adults.

We need to start somewhere. Maybe it's by brushing a child's hair...or filling their bellies with a warm
bowl of spaghetti. We need to imprint something on that child's molecules that says, "You are loved. I am here for you. You are going to be taken care of."

I once read that a grandparent will be most loved and venerated by their grandchildren if they provide two simple things for their grandchildren...1. your time  2. food.

It isn't hard really. It just takes a little intention, a little time, and a hairbrush!