Goosebumps and Shivers

Shiver me timbers, nothing beats a good back ticklin’.

My love of ‘the shivers’ has been transferred to my children. Every night as we assume the cuddle position, one of the kids whispers, “Dot-Dot-Line-Line Mummy.” 

Anyone remember this childhood rhyme or did my somewhat twisted family make it up?

The {non-twisted} version goes:

Dot, dot, line, line {draw on their back}

Let a {insert name of random animal} crawl/hop/slither/whatever…up your spine {squiggle your finger up their back}

Crack an egg, on your head, let it dribble into your bed {do the action}.

Tight squeeze {give their tummy a little squeeze}

Cool breeze {blow on the back of their neck}

Shiverrrrrrrr {lightly run your fingers up and down their back}.

Good shivery fun right?

What’s NOT good is absentmindedly reverting back to the version you learned as a child, which is nearly the same with the exception of the egg part.

Which goes…

Crack an egg, on your head, let it dribble ’til you’re dead.

“WHAT did you say??” my son asked.

Whoops.

But he’s eight and old enough to handle the truth so I admitted to switching “dead to bed.”

He suggested I avoid using the “scary” version with his younger sister because it could give her nightmares. Then he asked me for another “Dot Dot Line Line”…either version was fine with him.

Related posts:

The Time I Told My Child With Speech Delays To Stop Talking Merry… Shopping With Littles Life Lessons Learned From Loss