When Tommy was young, many hours were spent trying to teach him to hug. It came sometime after removing all the tags from his clothing and before charts and flashcards teaching facial expressions. Initially, hugs were something that caused the recipient physical pain. It was equally likely that you would get a hug that was so light you wondered if there was any physical contact. Tonight I mentally slapped myself in the forehead for forgetting to teach Tommy about handshakes. Trying to find a happy place between dead fish and arm wrestling just moved up the priority chart. It ranks three or four things above teaching him to do his head nod tic to music. If he’s gonna rock, it should at least have rhythm.

“And after a while, you can work on points for style.
Like the club tie, and the firm handshake,
A certain look in the eye and an easy smile.”