Focus

The

edium

is the

Illiassage

Ronna Levine and
baby Alysa, left.
Below, Alysa gets
smooth strokes.

Babies'
cares are
soothed
away
at the
Shaarey
Zedek
Parenting
Center.

ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM

Assistant Editor

104

fter a tough day at the of-
fice or a long afternoon
at home with the chil-
dren, today's baby
needs a way to relax.
And what better way
to shake off the stress
so prevalent in every-
day life than with a
massage.
A group of lucky babies
and their mothers gathered
recently at the Shaarey
Zedek Parenting Center for

a morning of "milking the
leg," "feather pats" and "I-
shaped strokes" on the belly.
It was all part of an infant
massage class, taught by
Kathleen Joseph of Bloom-
field Township.
The course was part of a
Parenting Center program
called Kitchen Table, creat-
ed to give instruction to new
moms and offer them an op-
portunity to meet each oth-
er. The first Kitchen Table,

which ended last week, was
for mothers and infants up
to 15 months. A second
course begins Jan. 28.
In addition to massage,
classes included infant-par-
ent communication and lul-
labies, according to Ruth
Beresh, Parenting Center di-
rector.
The room was warm and
the lights turned low as the
class began. A tape recorder
played Yiddish lullabies. The

babies were naked
- except for the di-
apers, with which,-
moms were reluc-
tant to part.
The program
began with the
arms, legs and
feet (massaging JI
the feet has been -
shown to help al-
lergies, Mrs.
Joseph said), then
moved on to the I
face, scalp, back
and abdominal

area.
Mothers covered their''
hands with almond oil, the
sweet aroma filling the room.
Mrs. Joseph recommends al-
ways using a vegetable -
rather than petroleum --
based oil for the massage. In=
addition to the almond, she
likes safflower oil. Both can
be found at health-food I
stores.
It was clear from the start