Tender to the Touch

Jeff Levy, LCSW
(originally posted on Branching Out: The Live Oak Blog, April 2014)

Almost 35 years ago I was a direct care worker in a state psychiatric hospital for children and adolescents.  In those days, the length of time in care could be up to or even longer than two years.  One of my favorite times to work was the 3-11 shift, working with children as young as 5 and as old as 10.  During that shift, I was “on the unit” when they returned from school .  My job was to facilitate afternoon activities, share and manage dinner, facilitate evening activities, and supervise clean up before bedtime.
 
My favorite time though, was after all the children had changed into their pajamas and were waiting in their rooms for us to tuck them in.  Each child had an opportunity to choose a person from among the 2-3 staff  working to be the person to tuck them in.  When chosen, it was our task to respond to the bedtime request, which was limited to three choices:  story, lotion, or powder.

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