The news out of Jerusalem this week is about a 52-year-old ultra-Orthodox woman who just had twin girls (http://www.vosizneias.com/79141/2011/03/21/mea-shearim-rebbetzin-has-twins-after-33-years). The mother had been trying to have children for the past 33 years. And while the family is happy, they are a little disappointed that the children are both girls. They had hoped for a boy to be an heir to the husband’s Rabbinic dynasty.
Way before the now famous Darth Vader superbowl commercial (which, if you somehow managed to miss it, is here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R55e-uHQna0), I had two boys dressing up as Darth Vader this Purim. My sister-in-law kindly decked out my 7 year old and 4 year old in full Vader regalia and the boys have been running around the house for months in their costumes.
If you have a daughter anywhere between the ages of 8-18, I believe that Hannah Montana may be part of her vocabulary. In the generation of the Disney channel, it is Miley Cyrus who reigned supreme. I read somewhere that by the time Cyrus is 21, she will be worth a billion dollars (I’m not going to fact check so if I’m off by a million or two, forgive me). But now she seems to be a misguided 18 year old, racking up her fair share of embarrassing photos and experiences.
Happy day full of love. From a religious standpoint, Judaism certainly does not embrace Valentine’s Day. Too much pagan ritual, martyrdom, saints that don’t belong to our religion etc. But, commercialized Valentine’s Day gives us a warm and fuzzy version. There are roses, jewelry, chocolate, Hallmark cards – it would be hard for anyone with a beating heart to remain unaffected.
Being a parent comes with a long list of anxieties – we worry about our kids’ health – emotionally and physically, we worry about how they do in school, in sports, with their friends. There is no shortage of what we can worry about. Today, I will add a new worry to the list: The Siddur Party. In many schools, when a child first receives his or her Siddur, there is a party or some sort of ceremony. In my son’s first grade class, parents have been asked to decorate the cover of their child’s Siddur. I know it doesn’t sound like much, but the pressure is on.
I truly believed I was going to write definitively about the Family Bed. This great debate about who gets to sleep with whom each evening. Is your bed just a place for you and your husband or is it a safe space for you, your husband and your children?
I am not trying to get you to join Facebook (although it couldn’t hurt).
In the past few days, I’ve been remembering my day school education. Specifically, those (usually female) teachers who told us of the tradition that women relax while the candles are burning each night. And while I sort of pretend to maybe relax, I completely and totally fail. It is the perfect time to make your latkes, to decorate the donuts, to set the table. It seems completely incongruous with a mother’s way of scheduling.
Every year I find myself in a similar predicament. Much like Santa, I’ve made my list and checked it twice (I sort of leave off the naughty or nice part) and head out shopping. We like to give our kids a small gift each night. One night we give them board games and turn that night into a games night. One night we give them all sorts of dreidels and spend the evening playing dreidel. Every once in awhile when we feel really creative, we make up a family treasure hunt or game and play that too. But I also buy them STUFF.
