Say Yes to No!

Totally fascinating stuff. The second clip here has some background info. Check out some of the related clips on YouTube as well... (hat tip)

Kidnapped?!

This morning I woke up and went to rouse the kids. Sari - who does have a perfectly good bed, fear not! - was rolled up in her blanket on the floor. I woke her up and, as usual, the sleeping beauty grunted and rolled over. I didn't see Ada in her bed so I called out her name, assuming she was in the bathroom. No response. I checked Mordechai's room. He was already out of bed. I figured Ada woke up early (weird!) and went down to play with Mordechai. I came down and asked Mordechai if he had seen Ada. When he said no, I started to feel frantic and continued to call out Ada's name repeatedly. I ran from room to room but couldn't find her anywhere! The panic was rising in my chest. In my search, I returned to the girls' room. (Sari hadn't budged, of course.) I sat down next to her on the floor and finally noticed a little foot sticking out from under Ada's bed. I lifted up the dust ruffle and there she was - sound asleep under the bed!

I was reminded of a similar story that happened when Mordechai was just a baby, not yet crawling. He was at the stage where he would wriggle on his tummy, but could only push himself backward. One time I couldn't find him for a good few minutes until he finally made a little sound which I heard, although it was quite muffled, from where he was under a bed. I could have been searching for even longer had he not bothered to make some noise!

Goodies to go

I asked Ada to bring home some cookies or cake from a siyum she is going to tonight. (I won't be there because I'll be at Meet the Teacher night for the kidlets.) She solemnly promised to wrap some up for me to go. A few moments later, she came to me and asked seriously, "Are you allowed to take home the napkins?" Something tells me she won't grow up to be one of the ladies taking home the centerpieces from a wedding. Thank God!

Ugh!

Here's me doing my part.

Summer fun down the block ;)

Parshat Ki Taytzay

From Sari's parsha question sheet:

Question: What do you do if you have an open roof?
Real answer: You must build a fence.
Ada's answer: You call a fixer man and ask him to fix it.

Duh!

Mother knows best...or not?

So I've been driving the kidlets to school in Boca every day. We pick up another kid along the way as well. The other day, I was spacing out and accidentally drove right past our meeting spot so that I had to get off the next exit and turn around to go back to pick him up. Mordechai was thoroughly annoyed and was delivering a lecture about how I should pay more attention to what I'm doing. Besides, he continued, I went a dumb way to get back which took much longer than necessary (all true, unfortunately - not that that's a good excuse to talk to your mother like that...) blah, blah, blah. When he ran out of steam, Ada piped up from the back,

"Mom, you should always listen to Mordechai when you're driving. He's our GPS!"

Trip to the ER

Sari nearly sliced her thumb off this evening while trying to cut a slice of challah for herself. I heard a cry of surprise from her and one of admonition from Mordechai. I saw her race past me on her way upstairs and I asked Mordechai what happened. He told me she had cut herself so I called to her to ask her where she was going. She said she was going to get a bandage. By the time she came downstairs with a bandage her hand was dripping with blood and she was looking pretty shaken. I couldn't even tell where the cut was because the blood was all over so I took her to wash the blood off. I could see that she had cut her thumb pretty deep so I (calmly) called Dovid to check it out and he agreed with me that it needed medical attention. Sari wanted Daddy to take her to the ER (I'm trying not to be offended) so I wrapped her finger in a gauze pad. I was afraid a bandage would be a bad idea because taking it off would mean pulling the pieces apart. ***shudder***

I thought I'd go crazy when I called Dovid's cell and heard it ringing in the living room! How could he forget his cell at home when he takes one of MY kids to the ER?! A friend of ours called a little while later and suggested I call the ER and ask for him. How like me is that? To forget that there was life before cell phones? Duh. The receptionist was happy to transfer me to bed #22. Sari was fine and was getting her wound taped rather than stitched which is certainly a lot less traumatic and will hopefully prove to be equally effective.

A little while later I called again to find out that they'd been discharged. Mordechai had been practically pacing the whole time since they had left but he seemed to be somewhat relieved to hear the news that they were on their way home. He turned to me and asked if I thought he should give Sari all his stickers. I was quite taken by surprise and didn't really have a chance to answer before he decided for himself that he would do just that. When she got home he handed her his whole sticker album. Now, granted he's not really all that into stickers for quite some time now, but, how sweet is that?

Almost Five!

Someone asked Ada the other day how old she was. Her response:

"Four and a half and three-quarters."

Transportation through the ages

Mordechai just told me a joke about a car that had special driving instructions. Funny thing, it was just like the joke I heard as a kid. Only the joke I heard was about a horse that would stop if you said "Shema Yisrael" and go if you said "Baruch Hashem!"

Lessons for Real Life

Sari came over to me holding an empty box after taking the last M&M ice cream cone. I looked at her, puzzled, and told her to throw it away. She said, "But you could use it to hold the door open!" (I'd been wondering all morning what happened to my homemade door stop that holds open my kitchen's swinging door.) I was so pleased. And she said, "Isn't that great? We're recycling! We're making less trash!" Nice carryover, no?

Loosening the apron strings

Mordechai had his first summer away from home. It was a huge experience for both of us. He stayed at Dovid's sister, Sari's family. He didn't say that much about his days but I do know that he was usually "too busy" to talk on the phone with me. Good sign, I guess.

After the second day of Chaim Day Camp, Mordechai reported that his Rebbe was awesome. His only complaint was, "Why do they have learning for so long if it's camp?" A little culture shock coming from his Florida day school, eh? By the next week he was pronouncing hebrew words with a deep yeshivish accent. (It reminded me of when I got married and heard Dovid make kiddush using "oh" for the cholam instead of "oy" like m faythers and brothers do. To me he sounded like a girl! It's a Chafetz Chaim thing :).)

My family was so wonderful taking care of my baby. I felt truly comfortable knowing he was in such warm, loving hands. My mom-in-law (where Mordechai spent most weekends), shared some anecdotes with me (in her voice):

1. We were talking on Shabbos about Miriam - that she will be the first of the grandchildren to go to sleep-away camp. So Mordechai puts on that smirky smile and says, "What about me, I am the first to go to sleep-away camp....I am sleeping away and going to camp!!"

2. Shabbos we had for dessert a yummy chocolate cake from Tziporah and Mordechai says its good that everyone has something that they are good at."Tziporah is the best at cakes and cookies, my mom makes the best salads, Aunt Sari cooks the best apple kugel & pies and Rivky and Rena are, ya know, good at cooking." (me: To appreciate how funny that is, it's important to note that I haven't made a salad in ages! He just made something up about me so as not to leave me out!)

3. On Sunday Mordechai was excited to go to Savta for the BBQ because he says she has the best steaks in the world. But he added that he is a little sad. When I asked why, he answered, "cause my mom always cuts the steak into little pieces for me."

Me: We have to pack up the school because it's moving to Palm Beach Gardens.

Ada (wide-eyed): They're going to move the whole school? How do they pick it up?

Me: No! They don't move the building, just the stuff in it.

Ada: Oh. Well that's good for Morah Tzippy 'cuz she lives in Palm Beach Gardens and she'll be close to it!'

Another link in the mesorah

Watching children get their first Chumash is an incredibly inspiring experience. Sari was a superstar! (I was reminded of her kindergarten "graduation" when we were still living in NY. There were a couple of kids in her class who refused to go up to do their part or forgot their lines. Sari jumped up to fill in for each one of them. She knew everyone else's parts by heart and apparently stage fright was not part of her playbook!) Many thanks to her Rebbe and teacher, and the entire Torah Academy staff. They are Jewish educators par excellence!

Purim 2009!

From Rochelle and Mordechai's wedding

Beating Eggs

On Friday, Ada and I were preparing challah dough. I was narrating the process and after we had checked the eggs to make sure they were kosher, I announced that I was going to beat the eggs. After I had whisked them for a few moments, Ada called out in glee:

"You won!"

Mordechai was complaining about the lack of scheduled activites for Erev Yom Kippur.

“I’m gonna be so bored!” he said.

I pointed out that we could play, read, and eat. I also mentioned that we still had to do tashlich. Then I added, "Oh, and we have to do kapparos tomorrow!"

His response: "Yeah, but what's the point of doing kapparos…there’s no poor people in Palm Beach!"

A g'mar chatimah tovah to all!

Bathroom Geography

The shower curtain in the kids' bathroom is a huge political world map. Ada insists that I stay in the bathroom while she sits and waits for things to happen (or longer) and makes me tell her the name of specific places that she points out. The toilet is situated facing the southern hemisphere directly in front of South America. I think she thinks Brazil is the most important place in the world because, from her vantage point, it's pretty prominent.

Of course, she's familiar with Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, and some of the states through which we drove in the summer. This morning she went off her usual path and asked me what was to the left of "George" (Georgia). I told her it was Alabama.

Ada: And what's next to Alabamer?

me: Mississippi.

Ada (cracking up with laughter): Mississippi Richmond?
(Mrs. Tzippy Richmond is a friend that recently moved down to Florida and teaches in our school)

Next...

Ada: Where's Africa?

me (sweeping my hand over the continent): This whole bunch of countries are all part of the continent called Africa.

Ada: So what's this whole thing?

me: That's South America. And this is North America. This is Europe. And this big, big continent is called Asia.

Ada (cracking up again): That sounds like Ada! (chuckling to self) Asia (pronounced Ay-juh)

Ada: What's that yellow one?

me: That's South Africa.

Ada: Where's North Africa?

me: Oh, there is no country called North Africa. You know, Chef Lisa (a specialty teacher in school) comes from South Africa!

Ada (eyes wide): She drives all the way from there to Florida to come to school?

me: Oh, no! She used to live in South Africa but she came to Florida a long time ago on a plane. Now she lives in Florida.

Ada: The plane flew over the ocean?

me: That's right!

Ada: Where do the kangaroos live?

me: Australia.

Ada: Right. Australia....Okay, I'm done now.

Adina, this one's for you

Dovid offered to brush Ada's hair for her after the bath because she was complaining that it was getting in her eyes.

Dovid: Okay. I'll do it very gently.

Ada: Good. 'Cuz Mommy does it very hurty.