The Cure for Insomnia

Asher's been staying up way past his bedtime.
We're not exactly sure why,
but suspect it has something to do with the sun staying up very late as well.
He has trouble settling, and feels lonely once his trusty bedtime buddy has fallen asleep.

He talks to himself. It breaks my heart.

Given that Asher is exactly like me,
and I can always find solace in a little out-of-this-world ice cream,
I thought that a late-night trip to Jeni's might help.


I was right.


(At least until we got home again, and he realized he would still have to go to sleep. Oh, well - nothing's perfect.)

A Prayer for My Children - Rosh Chodesh Sivan

I was reminded by my sweet friend Gevura that, on Rosh Chodesh Sivan, it is traditional for parents to offer a heartfelt prayer for their children.

You see, it is during the month of Sivan that the Jewish people was given the Torah. We celebrate this moment next week, remembering the day so long ago that G-d gave something so incredible and life-changing to us.

Like anything else that a parent gives to their child, the Torah, an instruction manual for our lives, was wrapped up carefully and lovingly and given with much fanfare to the Jewish people. But then, of course, it was out of the Giver's hands. The Jewish people has done many great things with it, but to this day, we're still fighting over it, arguing its meaning, and even using its words to hurt one another.  (As, I suppose, siblings will do.)

I think about this every time Sivan rolls around.  What will my children choose to do with the things I give them, and with the Torah G-d has given them? Will they use them to make the world a better place, or to create divisions between its occupants?  Thinking that the latter is a possibility tears my heart out.

Likely, our ancestors had the same worries and hopes. It became the tradition, therefore, to pray for a life full of Torah learning and deeds of lovingkindess for our children on this day.  You can find a traditional version of  the prayer here.  Here is our family's version, mostly the same as it was two years ago. (When Rami was bald - really!)

Before You, my G-d and G-d of my ancestors,

I set this prayer for my children:

I pray that they add more to the world than they take,

that they work every day toward its repair,

and that they walk through it with awareness of and humility before You.

I pray that they live full, healthy, secure, joyful lives,

and that if they cannot, that they are granted the disposition

to be truly happy with their lot.

I pray that they always know where they can find home

and that one of those places is always with one another.

I pray that they find a love that speaks to the deepest parts of their souls

and makes their lives worth living.

I pray that they become adults of whom their people can be proud.

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable to You, G-d, my Rock and my Redeemer.

{Chodesh Tov, and Chag Sameach}

Tell Me Something that Makes You Happy

You parents reading this can appreciate the challenge of getting a REAL smile out of the kids for a picture. 

(Just-one-picture for-the-love-of-all-things-holy can't-you-just-look-in-the-camera-for-one-stinking-picture?)

So, instead of asking Asher to "Smile!!!"

I usually say, "Tell me something that makes you happy."

Sometimes, he says, "The sharks at the Zoo."

Usually, he says, "Dinosaurs."

But yesterday, my darling boy said....

"You do, Ima."

(It would have been a great shot if his hand wasn't blocking his face.)

Oh my goodness, that boy is such a schmoozer I love that boy.

Rainy Day Plans

Just in case you were wondering

whether it's a good idea to visit the farm 

on a damp, trickly, dreary day,

let us help you out a little bit:

it probably is.

(Young's Jersey Dairy, Yellow Springs, OH)

One Year Old

My dearest Nesyah Hallel,

Of course I have loved you from the moment you were born, and even before then, as an Ima does.  The very miracle of your existence and birth is one thing that has reminded me to hold you especially close to my heart. But over the past year, you have grown into your own person, as children do.  I want to spend your first birthday letter saying "thank you" - not only for being my little miracle, but for working so hard over the past year to become so dearly, perfectly you.



As if the miracle of you wasn't enough,
you seem dedicated to making every moment a wonder.
You are the cheeriest baby I have ever met, and over the course of the last year, your unflappable happiness reminded me each and every day  that the world is a joyous place, if only we look in the right direction.

(discovering your toes)

(cloud-watching in the sukkah)

If any day felt particularly dark,
you would coo and sigh and pat the back of my neck with your fat fingers,
reminding me that if we were together, everything was right.
And, in that moment, it truly, truly was.  (Thank you.)

(snuggle session on the couch)

And if that didn't work, you would just do one of those fabulous tricks you can do with your tongue, raise your eyebrows in the air, and make me laugh out loud.


You love to be held close, and you love to kiss.  You were the first of my babies to volunteer kisses, approaching an unsuspecting cheek with wide-open mouth, a smear of drool, and an enthusiastic "aaaahhhh!" (Which is why I think I am the only person willing to kiss you on the lips as of yet.)


You are fat. Gloriously, deliciously fat.  Your thigh rolls are the best I have ever seen, and the day I notice that they are going away will be very sad.  That day is no doubt coming on more quickly than I will be happy about, since you began to walk just one week ago.  Five very wobbly, very independent steps were your birthday gift to me, one I will never forget.  Soon the extra exercise will burn off all that delicious chub, and your increasingly steady walk will make my arms a little less necessary.

(six months old, sixteen pounds)

Since I stayed home for the first year of your life, we have never been apart.  That means that you are one hundred percent Ima's girl.  If you are at your saddest, I am the only one who can make you feel better.  I absolutely love that, my dear one, I can't tell you how much.  We are "besties" through and through, and I couldn't ask for a better one.



I think every laugh that you've ever laughed has been a hearty one.  No giggles or titters here, just full-on delicious rolling belly laughter.  I hope that you throw yourself as fully and deeply into everything else you do your whole life long.


Your brothers adore you, and you are smart enough to already have learned from them the best ways to find adventure, effectively tackle, and mug someone with hugs and kisses.  That is one reason that you are as rough-and-tumble as a baby girl could be, and also as loving.



My darling girl, you are my sunshine.  During the first year of your life, you've already grown into someone who has managed to change mine more deeply than I could have imagined.  I don't think a day has gone by that your Abba and I haven't looked at one another and said how grateful we are that you are a part of our little family - you are making it what it is just by being so happy, so joyful, so sweet, and so perfectly, wonderfully, you.



Happy first birthday, my dear, sweet baby girl.  May it be the first of many more belly-laughing years to come.

Love,
Ima 

A True Friend

A true friend

is someone who thinks

that you are a good egg

even though he knows

that you are slightly cracked. (~Bernard Meltzer)

Shabbat Video Update: Mayn Yiddishe Maydele

Oh, my goodness.  You guys are not going to believe this one.  It is my favorite video yet, I think.  When I ran across this song, I knew it had to be matched with this video of Nesyah playing peek-a-boo before bedtime.

I am so totally in love with her.  Which is exactly what this song is about.

My favorite part is her big laughing belly.  Or maybe her two sweet teeth.  No, definitely the belly.

Shabbat Shalom (on our last Shabbat in Kansas!) from the Kopans bayit to you.