Loving Whispers

Sari told me a secret this afternoon. Can't remember what it was but that's not the point of the story. Next thing I know, Ada scoots over to me and puts her soft, yummy check up against mine and whispers unintelligibly. Well, everything she says, whispered or otherwise is unintelligible. She thought that was absolutely hilarious and that set off the whisper game with everyone whispering to everyone "I love you", "I love you more", "I love you like the stars", "I love you like the sand", "I love you a hundred million trillion googol", "I love you till the end of counting", "I love you even more than that", and then Sari tops it all with "I love you ...ummm ...twenty-six! That's alot, right Mommy?"

Sibling worship

I came into the living room this afternoon and was met with sight of Mordechai(6) and Sari(3 1/2) bent over a world map spread out on the floor.

Mordechai: Savta's in Israel now. I'll show you where it is, k?

Sari: Yeah, yeah! Where is it?

Mordechai: It's this little one, right here. See it?

Sari (sighs and gazes at him in wonder): Mordechai, do you know everything?"

Leich, Knos et kol ha-Yehudim

I was lucky to come across this project in time to join with them. I think a project like this is long overdue and I'm hoping I'll really manage to stick with it. Anyone interested in learning b'chavruta with me? Please consider joining: Nach Yomi for Avraham.

My big boy

Mordechai's siddur play was fantastic. The actual performance was okay - not nearly as polished as Chanukah's show - but the boys were so excited to be getting their siddurim, it was such a delight to share the moment with them. Mordechai showed me excitedly that it's the same one as the one Tante P. gave him, with the aleph-bet at the beginning and the parshiyot (weekly Torah portions) at the end. I was so moved by the whole experience - it felt like such an important milestone. (You can all stop laughing/snorting/rolling your eyes/etc. now.)

Different parents contributed to the refreshment table that was set up. Yaakov's mom made a beautiful siddur cake that also tasted delicious. Mordechai, ever the gentleman, went over to Yaakov and said, "Thanks for the cake, Yaakov. It's really delicious!" Good thing Yaakov's mom was sitting close enough to overhear the compliment and share a laugh with me :).

But, the best line of the day, in my opinion, came from another child, whose name escapes me at the moment. He tried a candy that was obviously not to his liking. He screwed up his face and said, "Eeew, it tastes like salad!" How's that for a simile?

Barber shop banter

Mordechai's having his siddur party tomorrow. It's so exciting and emotional for me. I feel like it's a mini Bar Mitzva! It is quite a milestone, after all. It goes without saying, of course, that he is absolutely beaming with pride and excitement!

For the occasion (and because his hair was starting to resemble that of the Beatles), I gave him a haircut tonight. It is my custom to play the part of "barber" when I cut his hair because it distracts him enough to give me another few moments of wriggle-free trimming. As any good barber does, I engaged the customer in conversation...

Me: So what's the occasion for this haircut, sir?

Mordechai: Oh, I'm having a party tomorrow.

Me: Oh! What kind of party?

Mordechai (apparently assuming I was either a gentile barber or a non-observant Jew): It's a book party.

Me: A book party? Why would you make a party for a book?

Mordechai: It's a holy book.

Kindergarten politics

Mordechai was talking to Dovid and giving him the rundown of how things stand at school (names were changed to protect classmates' anonymity):

Reuven is leader of the bad guys. He gets in trouble all the time. I'm the leader of the good guys. Shimon thinks he's the leader of the good guys but he's not. He walks around and shows off about how many stars he has and the other boys don't like that because he's trying to make them jealous. And Levi thinks he's so cool because he has gedolah* [sic] cards.

* Gedolim cards are collectible cards featuring Jewish religious leaders, past and present.

Mazal Tov!

How cool is this proposal? Not everyone's cup of tea I guess, but I think it's totally, incredibly romantic. What thinks you?

hat tip: Jameel (at OnlyBlogSimchas.COM ;))

A bald statement

Cousin Alex, whose hair is rather "thin", to put it kindly, was engaged in conversation with Mordechai (6):

M: Where's you hair?

A: (pulling at hair over ears) I have hair. Right here!

M: Did you get, like, a hundred haircuts?

Spell check for the 21st century

The spell check feature on Blogger does not recognize blogging or blog or blogger as words. Ironic, no?

Blump

I'm rather touched that several people have been asking me about my recent blogging slump. Of course, most of these people never comment so how I'm supposed to figure out that they read me is beyond my comprehension. But that is another matter entirely. The truth is, I haven't felt driven to write anything of late. Perhaps I've caught the bug from other bloggers who have also been slowing down a lot. Maybe it's just a temporary thing. I hope so 'cuz I used to enjoy writing here so much.

Al Jazeera interview

"We have not seen a single Jew blow himself up in a German restaurant. We have not seen a single Jew destroy a church. We have not seen a single Jew protest by killing people. The Muslims have turned three Buddha statues into rubble. We have not seen a single Buddhist burn down a mosque, kill a Muslim, or burn down an embassy. Only the Muslims defend their beliefs by burning down churches, killing people and destroying embassies. This path will not yield any results. The Muslims must ask themselves what they can do for humankind before they demand that humankind respect them."

See the video for the rest of an impassioned speech by Arab-American psychologist, Wafa Sultan, interviewed on Al Jazeera (via memri.org).