Every day, at the beginning of nap, the children get to soak their feet in a lavender foot-bath and then they each get a foot-rub if they like before I read them a story. Most children eagerly wait for their foot-rub and ask again and again for their turn. On our first day back to school this year, one of the new boys wasn't so sure about the foot-rubs.
It just so happened that two girls went first in soaking their feet, and while they were soaking, this little boy asked me if the foot-baths were just for girls. I told him that everyone got to have a foot-bath if they wanted one, and then I said it was his turn and he went over and put his feet in. When it came time for his turn for a foot-rub, I asked him if he wanted one, and he said, "Will it make me turn into a girl?" I reassured him that it wouldn't; that he would stay just the way he was, but he declined the foot-rub anyway. Then, while other boys in the room were getting foot-rubs, he expressed great concern that they were going to turn into girls too!
The next day, he came around and wanted to have a foot-rub before nap and every day since, he has asked me excitedly for his turn to soak his feet and get his foot-rub. He likes it so much now, that on Friday, while giving him his foot-rub, he began to giggle and then said, "It feels like macaroni and cheese!"
