Mother-Fest!

In honour of Mother's Day, Mothering Touch is having a party! New moms and pregnant moms are invited to come for three treatments of their choice, and there are all sorts of great options to choose from. Have a mini-manicure, a chair massage, a bit of acupressure, or any of the other great services being offered. The event will run from 3pm-7pm, and tickets are just $20. A limited quantity are available so come down to the store and get your ticket soon! For more info, see here.

To win a ticket to Mother-Fest, email contest@motheringtouch.ca with Mother-Fest! in the subject line. The winner's name will be drawn randomly at noon on Wednesday May 4th.

Good luck and Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Allomothers' Day

At Mothering Touch, everyday is Mothers' Day. So this month I'm going to write about allomothers. 

An allomother is a animal who takes care of an infant born by another. In troupes of monkeys like vervets and macaques, younger females often carry infants around, giving the mothers a break for foraging or resting. (Allo comes from the ancient Greek for other.) Sarah Blaffer Hrdy's book Mothers and Others: The Evolutionary Origins of Mutual Understanding is all about how the human infant's helplessness and the allomother's help are at the roots of the cooperation and community which make us human. (You can read a great review of the book here.)

I was visitng one of my allomothers last weekend. Penelope has known me since I was a little girl and I have always looked up to her as a cooler, hipper and funnier alternate to my own very cool and funny mother. It made me think about how lucky children are who have several allomothers: Friends, uncles, cousins, grandmothers who are availbale to attend to the baby when the mother needs a break. In traditional societies where people still live in extended family groupings, babies spend a large proportion of the day being held or carried about by someone other than their mother or father - a grandfather, an aunt, a big sister. And in many of those societies, mothers nurse each other's babies.

It's not only the mother who is helped, but the child too.  A child with several allomothers has a more rested and relaxed mother and a wider variety of grownups interested in his or her welbeing. My children have learned so much from my dear firends, their allomothers.They have been exposed to a wider variety of ideas and knowledge and food and ways of being than their father and I could have provided. Their allomothers taught them imjportant things, like how to make papier mache, how to watch figure skating competitions, how to identify a corinthian column, how to bake stollen and how to buy a bottle of champagne.

I will, of course, send my own dear Mummy a present and phone her on Mothers' Day, but I'll be also thinking of the allomothers. Thank you for the love you generously share with our children. Happy Allomothers' Day!

Mother's Day Sale

Come into the store between May 1st and 15th and enjoy 15-30% off everything for Mom! It's the perfect time to pick out a gift for your mother, wife, or even yourself!