The Kissing Hand, which came out in 1993, is a beloved classic children’s book with a very sweet but important message. The first time I read The Kissing Hand, it brought me to tears, but I knew that was the kind of story that resonated with me—the kind that makes you feel something; something special.
I imagine reading The Kissing Hand gave me a similar feeling that Chester felt when Mom kissed him on the hand. You get warm feelings of love; it touches something deep down that is integral to everyone. Children’s books often teach a lesson and, in this case, the lesson is that touch is important as we will see later on. Plus, who can resist an adorable little raccoon?
The Kissing Hand: Symbolization of Love
In the story, Chester, a baby raccoon, tells his mother he wants to stay home from school. Understanding his fears, his mother kisses his hand and tells him the kiss will not go away even if he washes his food. That way the kiss is permanent, and he can put it to his cheek whenever he feels lonesome or afraid. The kiss on his hand, symbolizing her love, will always stay with Chester and he can be reminded of her love at a moment’s notice.
His mother’s undying love gave him the bravery to go to school. The Kissing Hand story reminded me how important touch is for young children to grow and develop and to have that strong bond with their mother. Many times, children want to stay home from school and are afraid to get out of their comfort zone. They have no doubts their mom loves them and accepts them. But fear of the unknown can be a strong pull. And it’s not totally unfounded.
Children can often be cruel to each other. Bullying happens. Nowadays it’s a mixed bag, with cyberbullying becoming more a prominent form. Cyberbullying is worse than being in person at school because you can reach the target at any point during the day and while they are at home. While in The Kissing Hand, Chester, for the purposes of this story, does not have to worry about that, other children in real life do. Anything seen as different will usually be made fun of.
Why Touch is Important
In an extreme circumstance, Romanian orphans were crowded into a house with a ratio of about every twenty kids to two adults. With that many kids to adults, you can understand that the adults could not give adequate, individual touch and attention to each child. The results were in: how did these children fare? Several kids came across as autistic and had growth delays. Many of them were half their expected weight and height.
Touch was especially important in premature babies. Touch is integral to a baby, but, it is, sadly, easily forgotten when babies are in the NICU. Babies who weren’t handled much during their incubation period didn’t thrive as well as those who were handled often. For instance, babies who were touched more had less regurgitation versus those lacking touch.
Infants who were gently held and caressed by their parents after experiencing pain, such as a heel lance, were able to be calmed more easily and helped to alleviate pain. Touch helps reduce how strongly a baby responds to pain receptors, especially through skin-to-skin contact. Skin-to-skin contact helps them out in so many beneficial ways. Babies who are held often have better brain development, better social skills, faster weight gain, improved language skills, less anxiety and stress, and improved sleep.
Touch and Love
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As we have seen touch is highly important to development, thriving, and developing relationships. Touch reassures us of love and reaffirms affection. Touch is essential to living and thriving. Babies need touch for a few reasons. For one, touch produces a calming effect; creates a feeling of security, develops a sense of knowing who your mom or dad is, aids in brain development, and helps babies go to sleep quicker when bathing or massaging to relax them.
The Kissing Hand may not demonstrate the exact way touch is used to help infants and young children grow, but it gives us a sounding board that demonstrates how strong love is to help children move forward when they are afraid to try new things. The Kissing Hand also demonstrates how strong a bond a mother and a child can have. When a baby is born the first way the mother can communicate with her is immediately by touch.
As we have seen, touch is highly important to thrive and grow. Babies excel and have a better time in general when held often despite being in NICU. Those babies in the NICU would benefit from touch just as much as the full-term babies. Children who are not held as often visibly show signs of lack of growth from their weight and height to their language and social skills. The moral of the story: Mothers, hold your babies often!
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