Hey! This is sad...

I just noticed that the Children's Storefront, a venerable mama-and-child drop-in centre on Bathurst Street near Bloor, burned down a few weeks ago.

My sister Abigail is apparently playing the benefit next week.  (okay, that's not the sad part!)

 

I had to stumble upon all this information... because I'm totally clueless, even though I was on a TTC bus going right past the spot last week and noticed a big hole where it used to be.

 

Sigh; I was meaning to get there with the kids one of these weeks... somebody just raved about it a couple of weeks ago!

Meanwhile, donate if you can.  Support the benefit... it should be fun, for a great cause.

 

Oh, yes... here's the link.

Read More...

How to put a baby to sleep… suggestions from a mama of 4:

          

But seriously, folks… this last one really is all it took.  Well, a little bit of nummies, and then he was out.  What a busy day hanging out with Abba!

Read More...

Six Word Saturday: November 13, 2009

 

Naomi and Santa meet at last.

Read More...

Another “Hands-off” Homeschooling Moment

Further to her self-initiated Learning How to Write spree a couple of days ago:

Busy cooking, so I left Naomi Rivka to her own devices.  Totally unprompted, she came to me and said, “we should make a tent for this week’s parsha, to be Sara’s tent.”  (parshas Chayei Sarah)

I agreed, snapped some skewers in half and taped them together to make a quick teepee … and she did all the rest!

You can’t see it in this picture, but the tent features tremendously detailed illustrations… probably mostly of princesses, I’m sure. 

She is very, VERY serious about her princess obsession these days.  I feel sad because she thinks this is a magical thing that is unique to her and her most special friends.  How can I break the news to her that they are all victims of the tawdry Disnicrappification of an authentic European folk tradition (namely, fairytales, morality tales and tales of royalty, a common enough theme even in Jewish tradition)?  I feel sick thinking about it.

Anyway, while she decorated her tent, we talked about why Sara Imeinu was famous for her tent:  namely that it was always open to guests.  I also reminded her about the midrash which teaches us that her Shabbos candles stayed lit from one week to the next.  And then, when she died, the candles went out… until Rivka, the next Jewish princess, came along.  She was as big a tzadekes as Sara, and again the tent was a happy place, with candles lit from one week to the next.

She was happy enough to have a story with a real princess in it.  “And she was only three years old!”

I’m sure hands-on homeschooling works great, but on a busy Friday afternoon, I love it when she gets her own ideas about how to learn!

(slightly apropos of this, Thingamababy posted a link to this page with cartoons deconstructing the whole Disney princess thing… cute)

Read More...

stolen minute

Shabbos is early, I've been cooking and entertaining kids since 8 a.m., Elisheva's got the littles in the tub, Ted's at work 'till 3, YM is hiding out in his room - looks like he has the laptop power supply with him.  Argh.  And I, I am sitting with a bowl of Cookie Crisp and a glass of coke and nobody can stop me because I am ALL ALONE!!!

Read More...

sheesh

My mother-in-law in Calgary just passed this along to me… knowing, of course, that it would both amuse and irritate me to no end!!!

 

Isn’t the little cartoon at the bottom just ever so cute?  Sheesh.

Read More...

Have you heard about Sigd?

Who said the month of Chesvan doesn't have any holidays?  Let's get ready for SIGD!

Maybe not quite a full Ethiopian extravaganza, but I'd love to do something…

If the North American black community can invent Kwanzaa and turn it into major hoopla inside a single generation, can't the Jewish community embrace a "lost" festival that actually does have a long, authentic tradition???

As of last year, it is an officially state-recognized holiday in Israel.  That’s a good enough excuse for me to have a bit of fun. 

Plus, they do great embroideries like the piece shown above, though I doubt the authenticity of Ethiopian prints which depict, for example, menorahs… Beta Israel (Jews of Ethiopian origin) don’t have a tradition of celebrating Chanukah because they were already in exile when the story happened.

Still… fascinating!

Read More...

Shabbos menu

Boy, are we sick of chicken.

 

Anyway, we're having... chicken!

 

* Shabbos Food *

 

Shabbos Dinner

 

~ OJ/Honey chicken:  http://www.aish.com/sh/r/48966606.html
~ Pumpkin-Potato-Onion Latkes
~ Corn
~ Cinn Rolls / Chocolate Babka:  http://www.aish.com/sh/r/48969536.html
~ Chocolate something / RK squares

 

Shabbos Lunch (fleishik)

 

~ Schnitzel
~ Chicken Cholent
~ Broccoli
~ Pasta salad
~ Desserts

Read More...

I am a Mommy

GZ was shrugging his shoulders so I quoted to him from Eric Carle's From Head to Toe, "I am a buffalo and I shrug my shoulders... can you do it?"

He did it a few times; very cute.

 

Then I looked at Naomi and said, "I am a choochie and I smile so nicely."

She stared straight back at me and said "I am a mommy... and I hate my daughter."

 

Testing, testing.

Always with the testing.

Read More...

Jewish Mama Meme: Chanukah

Fabulous concept borrowed from the lovely Amy Meltzer’s Homeshuling blog.  Join in and post your own here!

A little early for Chanukah, but here goes…

One menorah, or several? Hillel or Shammai? (just kidding about that part)

Ted has one, the big kids have one.  I was thinking of letting Naomi Rivka light her own this year.  Everybody’s is oil except Elisheva Chaya, who uses candles because the spaces on her menorah are too close together.

Do you buy your children gifts for every night of Chanukah?

No gifts, please!  We give money.  A few years ago we challenged the older kids – asking them whether they’d prefer $20 the first day and nothing else the whole time or 10 cents the first day, doubling every single day.  Bit of a math challenge.  Elisheva let YM do the math and they’ve taken the doubling every single year since.

Do you and your spouse/partner or any other adults in your life exchange gifts?

Sometimes – sporadically.  One year I did papier mache; one year, I challenged myself to find dollar-store gifts for absolutely everybody… sometimes I buy nice stuff for some people or make something for a few people.  Definitely sporadic!

Special family chanukah traditions?

Party at my parents’ house.  This year, my mother’s house.  I make traditional latkes from scratch for the party… the rest of the time I’ll use a mix or make weird, asian-fusion type latkes.

Latkes or sufganiyot? If latkes, sour cream or applesauce?

Latkes, definitely.  With SUGAR!!!  It’s my father’s family’s minhag.  Sounds weird:  potatoes with sugar.  But it’s delicious.  I think of it as Jewish funnel cakes.

Favorite chanukah book?

Hate almost all of them.  Because there are SO many.  Why can’t somebody write a great Shavuos book???

Do you actually play dreidl? If so, what do you use for counters?

We try.  The big kids have done it with Chanukah gelt.  You can actually play an interesting Yahtzee-type game with a dreidel.  I’d like to try that again this year and see if we can’t get all the rules worked out.

What relationship, if any, do you have with Christmas and all things Christmas-y?

None!  I try to forget it’s out there.  But secretly, I love it.  When I was single, I used to watch midnight mass live from Washington D.C.  If I could, I’d sneak out to see it in person.  Just part of my “all-things-Catholic” obsession.  Hey, I even wound up with the wonderful, sweet Catholic boy… who’s now a really good Jew!

Read More...