Just a Few
These are just a few things that I love about my sister:
- She has always been generous. See here
- Her ability to save rather than spend is remarkable. Even as little girls, she always had a healthy balance in her tin penny bank
- Her support is unwavering nor does she show signs of jealousy.
- Hands down, she is the best gift giver EVER. So much thought and creativity goes into her gift selection.
- And the thing that makes me smile the most — she signs her cards and letters with her first and last name.
What’s not to love??
By the Book
Poppyseed is what some might call a reluctant reader. She has struggled from the very start. And though she has made tremendous improvement, thanks to highly-anticipated daily visits to the Reading Clinic at school, she is still lagging behind.
We did everything by the book, you should pardon the expression. Our kids have been surrounded by the written word since they emerged. Because Mommy has to read before going to sleep at night, there was reading material in the hospital bag. We read everything and anything to our kids. With inflection, drama, and sound effects. And they saw both parents reading books, magazines, newspapers, ancient tomes, etc.
And term after term sees remarks from the teacher to encourage Poppyseed to read daily.
What Poppyseed wants is for us to read to her rather than read independently. We’ve upped the reading to the point that there are times we end up skipping her daily assignment because we are enjoying the together-time.
Which brings us to tonight. Having completed, and thoroughly loving The Doll Shop Downstairs, I knew that it was time to bring out All of a Kind Family.
Two chapters into the book and it is apparent that she is falling in love with the five little girls. Which thrills me to no end.
As for reading on her own, we tried a new approach tonight; paying her to read to Peach. One dime per book. Gets her reading and Peach loves the attention.
A perfect solution for the girl who is constantly reminding us of the following:
Studies show that the best way for kids to be lifelong readers is to have caring adults read to them.
Or caring older siblings.
Paying the Price
Glancing around the room, I laid eyes on students I didn’t even realize attended my school. They were the ones who skated on the periphery of high school society. Mostly, I think, because they spent the majority of their time behind the school, smoking. And yet, there we were together. In detention.
Judging by the ease with which they handled the stern, and rather nonsensical, rules of detention, it was apparent that they were lifers. I, on the other hand, was a detention novice. Which was made perfectly clear from the moment I sat down towards the front of the room and promptly placed my school binder on the desk. After all, the time shouldn’t be a complete waste, I figured.
Warden: And just what do you think you’re doing, young lady?
FrumeSarah: I thought it made sense to work on my math while sitting here this afternoon.
Warden: You thought? Well, you thought wrong. Put it away.
FrumeSarah: What about writing in my journal?
Warden: No writing in detention.
FrumeSarah: May I read a book?
…snickers from the other students…
Warden: What do you think this is? Study Hall? You’re in detention, young lady, and you will sit here and do nothing until I say you can leave. Is that clear?
So let me get this straight. My punishment for skipping one period of school was to languish in detention and NOT have access to any school work or pleasure reading? For three afternoons? As my colleague and dear friend, PGR, is fond of saying “What’s the goal?” I mean, really. Were they actually afraid that students would commit an infraction because they desired an opportunity to do school work while in detention? Conversely, from the looks of things, it certainly didn’t seem as though sitting for an hour in silence and without engaging in any meaningful work was much of a deterrent.
Let me be clear; I was deserving of a consequence. I had willingly and knowingly skipped third period. I had been up very late the night before, studying for first period, and by the end of third period, could no longer keep open my eyes. It would have been rude to fall asleep in Mr. Riley’s, z”l, class. Not to mention counter-productive. And so I went to my car, climbed in the back, and went to sleep for fifty-five minutes. Unable to produce a readmit the following day, I was given a one-way ticket to detention.
Unlike the helicopter-style of parenting, my parents operated under the premise that The School (administration, individual teacher, etc.) was the ultimate authority unless guilty of a action so egregious that it required some type of intervention. Otherwise, The School was in the right and we children were in the wrong. It was, quite truly, a great way to teach respect for authority and for rules. I had broken the rule. Though I had broken it for a very admirable reason, I had not followed proper procedure and was, therefore, deserving of punishment.
So last week, desperate for sleep, I climbed in the back of my car. Emerging fifty-five minutes later, I had the same sense of engaging in some forbidden activity. Only this time, no detention.
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This week’s edition of Haveil Havalim is live over at Letters of Thought.
Cultural Divide
Photo: Microsoft Office
Maybe it is because we don’t have an article of clothing associated with any of our holidays. Or maybe it is something else. But I have never understood why grown men and women walk around sporting a Santa hat or other festive wear during the Christmas season.
And it’s not just an isolated sighting here and there. On a recent trip to Chicago, I lost count of how many folks were attired in plush red hats, reindeer antlers, and the like roaming through LAX and ORD.
I just don’t get it.
Is it a cultural thing? Or is it due to Frume Sarah’s missing “fun and light-hearted” gene?
Born and Reborn Again
Peach: Do you like my smell?
FrumeSarah: Do I like your what?
Peach: My smell. We all have our own smell. Like we all have our own breath.
Oh. Peach is three.
FrumeSarah: Hey Peach, do you know who put our breath inside of us?
Peach: God. Isn’t that so cool? I told my friends at school today that God put hot breath inside of us.
A moment later…
Peach: I can’t remember the day I was born.
FrumeSarah: That’s OK, Peach. You were pretty little.
Peach: Can you take me there?
FrumeSarah: Where? To the hospital?
Peach: No, the place where I was waiting for you before I was born.
Peach is not alone in his musings about prenatal life. HIs sister had her own take on things.
Let’s Make a Deal
A great deal of familial conflict arises when one of the kids makes a deal with his or her sibling and does not keep his or her end of the deal. For example, if you play dress-up with me this morning, I’ll play Wii with you later. Except that later never comes. More often than not, the lack of follow-through is due not to any preconceived knavery but an end of interest in promised activity.
So we have had to implement a “no-deal” policy.
Yesterday, Poppyseed informed me that she had made a deal with one of the girls in her class.
Mama, I’ve made a deal with Avalon. I told her that she can play with Tessa and me if she promises to keep playing with Tessa after we move.
Tessa is Poppyseed’s “BFF.” That’s shorthand for “best friend forever.” They are fiercely loyal and, much to my dismay, rarely permit others into their realm. I had two friends like that in elementary school. I was sometimes given peek into their world, but it often felt like a provisional membership.
But what amazes me is that Poppyseed is so concerned that Tessa will be bereft after our move that she has arranged for Tessa to have a companion to fill the void.
A acceptable exception to the policy, wouldn’t you agree?
HH #295 — And…It’s Tevet
Photo: Microsoft Office
Founded by Soccer Dad, Haveil Havalim is a carnival of Jewish blogs — a weekly collection of Jewish & Israeli blog highlights, tidbits and points of interest collected from blogs all around the world. It’s hosted by different bloggers each week and coordinated by Jack. The term ‘Haveil Havalim,’ which means “Vanity of Vanities,” is from Qoheleth, (Ecclesiastes) which was written by King Solomon. King Solomon built the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and later on got all bogged down in materialism and other ‘excesses’ and realized that it was nothing but ‘hevel,’ or in English, ‘vanity.’”
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A hearty welcome back to The Rebbetzin Rocks. You have been missed. And your return post shows us why.
Chanukah was clearly on the minds of many this past week. And in the midst of the festival, we moved from Kislev into Tevet. A beautiful post by Amy on this transition.
So let’s jump right in with some Chanukah posts —
חנוכה
The Minnesota Mamaleh take a turn at being the Hanukkah Mom.
Chana Sorel muses about everyday miracles and the light of the festival.
We Ashkenazim can be so ashke-centric. Just ask Susan. She shares her experience in Attack of the Latke Lovers.
A rabbi lighting an electric menorah? Sure thing. Read more over at Sects and the City.
What about a Christmas tree made out of Jewish Stars? PepGiraffe has something to say about this.
Living in the Diaspora? Thanks to Jacob for giving us a sense of the advertising possibilities of Chanukah in Israel. And a tremendous thank you to CosmicX for Zot Chanukah.
The Jewish BlogMeister provides links to some a capella Hanukkah videos for our enjoyment.
And a whole slew of DIY menorot: a blingy one from Amy at Homeshuling, one using alphabet blocks from Creative Jewish Mom, SEVERAL amazing projects over at Crafting Jewish Style
And if you are Peach, then your Chanukah was perfect for you got your dream gift: a doll.
A really fun Chanukah over at the Minnesota Mamaleh’s place. I want to go there next year. They know how to make simple things really special.
December Dilemma, anyone? Hadassah asks if it is OK to bring Christmas into a Jewish home. Don’t freak; not to celebrate it. But to watch a Christmas-themed special.
Just like that…Chanukah ended. As it was ending, life is beginning. As captured by Robin.
Israel
A post by Sara Esther Crispe at Chabad.org reminds us that fire can either warm, illuminate, glow and sustain, or it can burn, disintegrate and destroy…
Can one individual in the government be responsible for the Carmel Fire? CosmicX in Jerusalem ponders this very question. He also shares some of the rabbinic viewpoints regarding the cause of the fire.
Esser Agaroth defends Eli Yishai.
Ruti implores God to provide rain at this most needed time. (Caution: this is a stunning piece.)
Prayers for rain came from all over the world, as JaneTheWriter shares
And then…there was rain. Batya shares her rainy experience. She also asks “What’s the Attraction of Rachel’s Tomb?”
David, over at Israelity, talks about the beauty of this particular rain. He also shares his experience of seeing a great adaptation of Disney’s Little Mermaid (בת ים הקטנה) in Tel Aviv.
This post about hitchhiking reminds me of my first trip to Israel over twenty years ago. Thanks, Dave, for reminding me of the decency of folks.
Reality Bites! Miriyummy shares some of the conflict that comes from being a passionate Zionist who loves a passionate Zionist when they are on different pages politically. And for sharing a picture of a beautiful Jerusalem sunset and the Kotel at night.
Joel Katz provides us with the top stories of Religion and State here and here.
The Velveteen Rabbi blogged over 27,000 words from the recent Rabbis for Human Rights conference. Here are some of the highlights.
Yisrael Medad asks if Julian Assange and the King of Siam are interconnected somehow, shares his theory of jet lag and the peace process, and criticized the use of the word ‘settler’ in a Letter to the Editor in the NYT.
Judaism
Wow. The Independent Patriot asks some painful questions regarding the Rabbi at her shul and his political leanings over at Liberty’s Spirit.
The Third Edition of the Jewish Homeschooling Blog Carnival is live over at Adventures in Mamaland. Yasher Koach! A very impressive collection of links.
So what do rabbis do all day? The Rebbetzin’s Husband take a walk down memory lane to answer that question. He also takes a hard look at the meaning of prayer.
Chavi (no, not this one) asks “Is Red an Immodest Color for Women?” as well as sharing a comprehensive list of well-known Jews-by-Choice. She also addresses the issue of folks who start with a liberal conversion and then move to the right. (I don’t love the title, but there are some real truths in her post.)
Esser Agaroth disagrees with one woman’s interpretation of the meaning of Havdallah.
And a guest post by Marcy over at PopCulture provides some solid objections to Matisyahu’s most recent video.
Kashrut
The latest edition of the Kosher Cooking Carnival is over at Miriyummy. Take a look.
Humour
And just when you thought that it was safe to return into the water, the JewTribe sheds some light on the Wikileak exposure of the Mossad.
What’s a tefillin-wearing woman supposed to wear? On the Fringe shares her fashion dilemma.
Politics
Weighing in on the Jewish community’s enduring loyalty to FDR is Batya.
Personal
We are meant to learn from life’s lessons. If that be the case, then Ricki’s Mom is well on her way to Getting a PhD in Life.
A sweet gesture from a husband to his beloved. I found this touching…but reading through the comments shows that some find such public displays of affection to be inappropriate.
Also from Hadassah, what do you think of this? And again, it’s worth taking the time to read through the comments.
Chavi’s back from Israel…and with some bittersweet thoughts.
Finally, a reminder that we’ve all met...once a upon a Time.
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A huge, HUGE mazal tov to the Ima on the safe delivery of her son. May he bring much light to our world!
And that concludes this week’s edition of Haveil Havalim. I hope that you enjoy reading these posts as much as I did!
Not certain who will be hosting next week as the Blog Carnival site has been down. With God’s Help, it will be up and running shortly. You can participate in the next edition of HH by using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.
See You Next Year, Chanukah
And just like that…Chanukah has left the building. Eight full nights of candles, dreidels, gifts, and gelt.
I, for one, am relieved. Trying to get kids to bed after the excitement each night was a losing battle. In fact, there was one night when Peach wouldn’t go to sleep and I just let him play until he got so tired that he begged me to take him to bed.
The best part, though, has to be the nightly viewing of this G-dcast video, now known as “my dreidel movie.”
http://www.youtube.com/v/G40SlkmZkqU&hl=en_US&fs=1&
G-dcast Spins Chanukah! from G-dcast.com
More Torah cartoons at www.g-dcast.com
Peach assures me that he plans to keep watching even though Chanukah has ended.
And While We’re on the Topic…
Photo: iClipArt
He’s making a list, checking it twice.
Gonna find out who’s naughty or nice.
~lyrics from “Santa Claus is Coming to Town“
Poppyseed: You know, if I were Christian, I wouldn’t be getting any Christmas gifts either.
FrumeSarah, choking down a bite of lunch: And why is that?
Poppyseed: Because sometimes I am naughty.
Before I discovered that Santa Claus wasn’t real (and by real, I mean that the presents attributed to Santa are typically from one’s parents), this notion really bothered me. On several levels. All people have the capacity for both “naughty” AND “nice.” In Judaism, we call these inclinations the Yetzer HaRa and the Yetzer Tov. So while we are intrinsically good, we sometimes do things that aren’t. The idea that gifts are given only to those who are good was upsetting to me as a child. What about those kids whose parents couldn’t afford toys? Would they then understand themselves to be naughty and, therefore, undeserving of Christmas gifts?
He sees you when you’re sleeping,
he knows when you’re awake.
He knows if you’ve been bad or good
so be good for goodness sake!
~lyrics from “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”
He sees you when you are sleeping? Was I the only one who found this creepy?
Not This Mom
Photo: Microsoft Office
Upon discovering what I do for a living and that my two older children attend (a-hem) public school, a woman I had just met remarked, “Oh they must love you this time of year. You probably get asked to do Chanukah in all the classrooms.”
FrumeSarah: Nope. Never asked. And never done it.
Woman: Why not?
FrumeSarah: I don’t believe that religious holidays belong in the public schools.
Woman: But they do Christmas in the schools.
FrumeSarah: That’s not my problem.
Woman: And come on… (she says conspiratorially)…you have to admit that our miracle is a heck of a lot better than theirs.
FrumeSarah: That’s because I’m not Christian. Besides, you know fully well that the Christmas they are teaching in the public schools is the secularized version. And I certainly don’t want the public schools stripping my holiday of its religiosity.
Woman: You must have grown up somewhere else. I mean, what about Chanukah songs? There have to be Chanukah songs in the Holiday Pageants.
FrumeSarah: I grew up in the same district as my children and it so happens that I have always felt this way. They’re Christmas Pageants and a token Chanukah song isn’t going change that. Furthermore, Christmas music is beautiful and what we have to offer at this season doesn’t compare.
Woman: You know what your problem is? You know too much.
It’s true. I really don’t believe that religion belongs in the public schools. And teaching Chanukah simply reinforces the incorrect notion that Chanukah is the Jewish Christmas.
I suppose that it might make more sense for a Jewish parent to go into the classroom at Rosh HaShanah as that is a far more important holiday. However, I can report from personal experience, that having one’s parent visit the classroom, try to explain our calendar, and then blow on a smelly ram’s horn does absolutely nothing good for one’s social prospects. (Thanks, Dad.)
It’s hard enough following a ritual rhythm that is outside the cultural and religious norm. That last thing that I ever wanted is to draw even more attention to it. Not once have my kids ever asked for me to come to school and do a Chanukah presentation. They have asked over the years to send hamantachen to friends and teachers or bring gelt for “holiday” parties. And that we have done. But no presentations. No letter campaigns to the school board. Because I really do believe that religion should be taught in the home and in the religious institutions. Not in public elementary schools.
And so…I said nothing. Because the several things that came to mind were just not nice. Perhaps I should have just said:
Lady, do you happen to read Frume Sarah’s World? Because you’re gonna be featured on it later today.
Frume Sarah is Shabbos-observant -- in a Reform way, that is. Please note that from Friday afternoons until one hour after sundown on Saturday evenings, Frume Sarah will be unavailable, in observance of the Jewish Sabbath.
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Thank you for your understanding...and gut Shabbos!!! 
Frume Sarah's World 