Spa Day in the Middle of the Mall

If you've spoken with me in the last two weeks then you've undoubtedly heard about how bad my back hurts (if you've spoken with me in the last week then you also know I have a bad crick in my neck). With the babies on the go it seems I'm always hunched over grabbing them up. Sometimes it's one, sometimes both, but in general I have at least one baby on my hip most of the day. The babies still don't weigh very much, but they do get heavy after awhile (especially if I'm balancing them both) and lately I've noticed my back really aches. After lunch today I decided to load up the babies and push them around the mall until it was time to get JR from school. We looked around for awhile and then I saw it. The Chinese massage men in the middle of the mall. Normally, I'm not interested in a 10 minute back massage in the middle of the mall, but today, I was like a woman possessed. I marched straight over to the massage "chair", rolled the babies up next to me, and plopped myself down. I then began telling (in detail) the masseuse about all my aches and pains. When I was finally finished he said, "I don't think 10 minutes is enough." I said, "I know! But I'm worried the babies might start crying." It was only then that I started thinking about how I must look to the rest of the people in the mall. There I was, plopped down for a massage, while my twin babies just sat there looking on. I wanted to post a little sign on their stroller that said, "I know! Please don't call CPS. My back REALLY hurts, and the Chinese LOVE babies, they'll watch them for me. He can massage me and entertain the babies. Really, he can." During my days in Beijing I had plenty of massages, so I know what to expect from Chinese masseuses. In China it was standard for the masseuses to massage your glutes. My friends and I even referred to that part of the massage as the "butt flaps" since they would make a big show of clapping their hands after each rub across the glute. However, I did find it odd that "semi-butt flaps" were part of the 10 minute middle of the mall massage. Is that normal? Did he just think I was cute? As my massage continued I soon figured out that I'm probably not their typical customer. My dad always gets a middle of the mall massage so I'm thinking he's more their typical client. My masseuse must have thought that I, too, was a 220 pound man. He literally was pushing so hard on my back that my "chair" started tipping forward...he had to reach out and pull me back before I landed face first on the floor! As the massage neared its end, I became certain that I was not their typical client. I again started thinking that maybe he thought I was cute when he put his hands down the neck of my shirt to rub my upper back and neck. But then it happened, he broke out....the Icy Hot. Yes, the Icy Hot. Of course it would have been super fabulous to be in a shee-shee spa smelling lavender rose pedals and listening to plinky-planky music. But what I needed today was good old Icy Hot. And you know what? The Icy Hot worked...it was great! The whole massage was great! My back feels great! Yes, I admit it. I had a middle of the mall massage, I am not ashamed. Next thing you know I'll be doing the middle of the mall teeth whitening!