For my little friend Hadassa's 1st birthday

It came out pretty, no?

Fashion faux-pas? I think not!

me: Oh, Ada! I told you - no stripes with florals!

Ada (looking chagrined): Uch, I forgot!

(Yes, she went to school like that.)

Yom Ha'atzma'ut

Sari woke up very excited to celebrate Israel's birthday. She asked me, in all her 7-year-old innocence, "Is this the date Hashem promised Israel to Avraham?"

(p.s. A friend pointed out that Avraham was born in 1948 - the "same" year that Israel became a state. How's that for confusing her further? Hee.)

Not quite the Queen...

At the seder, when asked why I was pouring everyone's first cup of wine for them, I was ready with the answer that, on the seder night, we act like kings and queens and have our wine poured for us. Ada pipes up, "So you're not the queen. You're like the servant!"

Hmph.

It's better to be younger...

Why?

Ada: because then you live longer!

Israel makes me proud

Invisible

Lessons for Life from the Science Fair

(Forgive the length of the post, Uncle Meyer. I hope it won't deter you from reading it through....)

I finally have Mordechai's science fair project behind me. Despite the fact that we kept it clean and simple, it was still a huge pain. Mordechai was harassing me all last week to get the final details together (order the prints, get the tri-fold board, etc.). Of course, I really should be pleased that he has his project prepared well in advance of the due date as opposed to his usual method of night-before-it's-due-panic mode. It's so much easier to be annoyed and critical when they do it the wrong way than to remember to be pleased and complimentary when they do it right, just like you told them to....

As a whole, it was a fairly valuable learning experience as he worked through the process of gathering materials, clarifying the procedure, recording his results, and coming to a (somewhat valid and relevant) conclusion. He dropped a basketball from 3 different heights and recorded how far up they bounced back. He discovered that it never came back up to it's drop level. The lower the drop height, the greater the percentage of the height was achieved on the bounce back. So, dropped from 2 feet, the ball bounced back up to 87.5% of the two feet i.e. to 1 foot, 9 inches. From 6 feet, the ball bounced back up to only 66.7% of its original height i.e. to 4 feet.

As we working out the ratios together, Mordechai got excited with an idea he had: You can think of it like two people. Reuven has a "two-foot" potential. From your view-point, you see him reaching 1'9" which is not so impressive. Shimon has a "six-foot" potential. You see him reaching 4 feet. Looks like he's reaching greater heights - and he is. But in reality, Reuven perhaps deserves more credit because he's maximizing more of his potential whereas Shimon is not really putting in much effort and he could be expected to reach an even higher level. People can only see what you accomplish and what "level" you reach. Hashem knows how hard you really are working. It's not so much what you accomplish that's important but how much effort you put into your growth as a person.

Mussar haskel from my 10-year-old man. Yiddishe nachas.

Ada: Please can I? Please, please? I'll be your best kid!

Sari: Lefties are better 'cause they're more rare.

Ada: Well, righties are better because we use that hand to say sh'ma!

Love and Marriage

Mordechai: When people kiss on the lips in a movie, do they have fake lips? Or, no. Are they husband and wife? (pause) Yeah, they're probably just husband and wife.

Sari to Daddy: Why don't you call me honey like you call Mommy?

Randoms

We've had record low temperatures in Florida for the past couple of weeks. Since we live in an old house with no heating and lots of cracks and holes and stuff, it's crazy cold by us at night. So we have a couple of space heaters that we huddle around. I spent several nights sleeping on the floor of the girls' room next to their heater because I couldn't warm up in my room. It was pretty insane. Showering was not even an option. The girls have been going to school in the strangest outfits with tights mismatched to clothes mismatched to layers of sweatshirts. But, who cares? My favorite part is the quote I heard from Ada one morning as I was getting her dressed: "I'm sugaring!"

Here are some more:

Ada (sipping a hot cocoa) to me: Do you think Sari would enjoy this? I think she would enjoy this. Let's save some for her.

Me (looking in the mirror, fixing myself up before a gala dinner): Uch, I'm so fat!
Sari (admonishingly): Don't say that Mommy! You're not fat!

That coming from the same girl who says: Are you sure you're not pregnant, Mommy? Your stomach is getting bigger...

And: Why are your thighs so fat?

Ada to Mordechai: I wish this [ice cream] didn't have soy in it.
Mordechai: Why?
Ada: So you could have it!

Shopping Madness

A woman I was speaking to (I think she would describe herself as Conservative.) was telling me about some challenges she faces. She is genuinely concerned about giving her children a strong sense of their Jewishness. She mentioned that she gets very stressed out about it during December when all the holiday lights go up and some of her kids' friends have trees in their homes. This is not the first time I've heard Jewish moms express difficulty in this area. Another dad I met was at a loss, having moved recently from Israel, where he had never faced the situation before. He was hoping he could hide the whole issue from his kids, although how he planned to shelter them like that was unclear to me (or him, I imagine)!

I personally am glad to explain to my children about differences between us and Gentiles and I find that this season presents a good opportunity for that. Naturally, kids do get excited with all the lights and decorations and conspicuous fanfare surrounding Chrixtmas. That's perfectly okay. I tell them that the Gentiles celebrate the birth of their leader, JC, on Chrixtmas. He was a person who they think is a god. We know that G-d is not a person at all and it is avodah zara to believe so! One of the reasons that stores get into the "holiday spirit" with such vigor is to encourage people to buy lots of presents and spend more money. Also, even Gentiles who are not really religious celebrate the holiday. So that's alot of people celebrating so we see lots of Chrixtmas stuff around. Since we don't believe that JC is or was a god and that we don't want to do anything like avodah zara, we don't use Chrixtmas decorations or stuff like that.

Minorly related story: The other day, we were circling in the Publix supermarket parking lot for too long looking for a spot. Since I was with Ada getting ice cream, coming back later was not an option. When we had finally found a spot and we were walking through the lot towards the store, Ada wondered aloud, "Why is it so busy today? It's not even Friday!" And then, nodding her head wisely, "Ohhhh! I know why. They must be buying food for Chrixtmas!"

I'm in a picture!

A rare occurrence, I assure you :) I'm always behind the camera!

Who won?

I'm currently reading "Treblinka: The inspiring story of the 600 Jews who revolted against their murderers and burned a Nazi death camp to the ground" by Jean-Francois Steiner. Sari read the cover with the title and subtitle and asked, "Is this a Jewish book?" I answered that it was about Jews. Then she asked, "Did the Jews win?" It took me a moment to answer.

Reading about the horrors that our brothers and sisters were subjected to is a difficult thing. It terrifies me but yet I continue to devour every word, page after page, the way I cover my face at the scary parts of the movie but all the while peek through my fingers because I just have to see it - I have to know what happens. It's terrifying to read how degraded and broken the human spirit can become. It's so hard to understand how people can allow themselves to be so deceived, allow themselves to deny the truth that is before them in an attempt to... minimize the pain? Hold on to hope? Save face? I'm not quite sure. It's all so overwhelming.

So, did the Jews win? Well, we're still here after all. There's some victory in that, isn't there?

I am thankful...

Mordechai: ...that we have a house ...that we are healthy and safe

Sari: ...for my siddur that my Savta gave me ...for kosher food ...for my family ...for Hashem

Ada: ...for my family and my neshama

Happy Hey

Presenting Ada, as a Native American, singing the song for the letter hey:

Ada-isms

Out of the blue, Ada announced the following: The Chinese people made two things. Chinese restaurants and Chinese jumprope.

(I have no idea how she knows anything about Chinese restaurants!)

*****************

Ada was busily building large squares with Clics. I asked her what she was building and she told me it was going to be a box. She added: I already know how I'm going to do it.

me: Oh? How?

Ada: I can't tell you. You won't get it.

me: I won't get it?

Ada: Yeah. You know, understand.

*****************

We were eating out at friends on Friday night. Of course, the kids are always ready to leave long before I am. Well, after polishing off her chocolate mousse and a slice of cake, Ada announced: I finished my dessert. I'm ready to roll!

Mordechai has become quite the avid sports fan lately. To "chill out," he likes to watch game highlights online. I was nearby on the couch one afternoon while he was watching what must have been an exciting moment in the game. The sports announcers were going nuts as they are so wont to do. I wondered aloud, "Why are they always yelling on the top of their lungs like that?"

A few moments later, Ada piped up from the recliner, "I think they yell so loud so that everyone in the stadium can hear them."

If only there was such a rational reason!

Ada's Anatomy

Ada was sitting in a shopping cart and started scratching the back of her knee vigorously. I asked her what the matter was and she answered, "My legpit itches me."