Purim is coming!

Lena has to dress up for preschool tomorrow-- Purim Parade time!  And the clergy at WRT are of course putting together a HILARIOUS comedy for our Sunday morning audience... so I guess it's time to start thinking about everyone's favorite holiday: Purim!

It's a favorite because it's fun, and it's really just about having fun.  Even the book of Esther which we read on Purim is a kind of comedy (can you believe there's comedy in the bible????).  There's easy humor to see, with simple, exaggerated characters put in crazy situations in a high court.  Add some horseplay and funny misunderstandings and you've got some really funny stuff that even the little ones can get into.

So here's a few ideas about how to get little ones excited about Purim:

(From Felicia Block):  Read the story of Purim at home and give each kid something to bang on when Haman's name is read!  Gets them ready for hearing the Purim story in shul this year or later.  And it's just fun (which is what it's all about, right?)

Play dress-up:  No scary Halloween costumes here, just royal kings, queens, court figures, happy times.  What preschooler doesn't like dressing up?  You can make masks and crowns yourself using glitter, feathers, lots of messy stuff.

Make Hamentaschen and give them as shalach manot to friends, families, and places that accept food donations.  My favorite flavor is poppy seed by the way.  And chocolate/ apricot together.

 Make your own Purim play, using finger puppets or paper-bag dramatics, whatever is your family's style.

And if you're around Scarsdale on Sunday Feb 38th be sure to come to WRT's Purim for a Purpose:  Megillah Reading and Family Purim Spiel at 9:45, Carnival and lunch at 11:15.  Carnival admission will support local organizations and charities.  Here's some pictures from a few years ago (I was pregnant with Lena there).

Now I have to get back to my Hamentaschen-making...  anyone have any good recipes for a non-baker and her almost-3-year-old??

Pregnancy brain... fact or fiction?

FACT!!

It prepares you for "baby brain," which I think is all biology-- you take better care of the baby if you focus on him/her instead of everything else going on around you.  And the sleeplessness of pregnancy prepares you for the sleeplessness of having a newborn... 

But all this preparation can be not so fun.  At WRT now we have 2 pregnant cantors (b'sha'ah tovah Cantor Abramson!) and things get a little funny at times.  Like us going back and forth to each other saying, "Did I tell you about this meeting?"  "Did we remember to include the kiddush on the new B'nai Mitzvah packets?"  "Did you write that detail down?  Because I know I won't remember it otherwise..."  I'm more guilty of it than she is, since I'm super-sleepy with Lena up at all hours trying to transition to her big-girl bed. 

I find my pregnancy brain spills over into my personal life as well.  Josh reminds me repeatedly that I've already told him a certain story.  I've gotten good at covering myself when I haven't a clue what's going on in the news and everybody else is talking about it.  (What?  The super-bowl happened?  Of course I know who won... who was playing again??) 

I don't remember where I was going with this blog entry.  I guess I'll end it here.  Oh yeah, Josh is in Israel with his congregation for 12 days... and did I mention that Lena's not sleeping thru the night in her big girl bed yet???  Maybe I'll convince her that Shabbat should be a day of rest for both of us!!!

"What was your favorite part?"

At bedtime each night, Lena postpones the inevitable by asking me or her daddy to "stay for one minute" to talk about the day.  She asks, "Mommy, what was your favorite part?" and I tell her some moment of fun we had together, or something new she did that I was proud of of her for... or if I'm feeling particularly tired and ready for her to go to bed already, occasionally I'll say "naptime!" 

Last night we were having this usual conversation (as she turned about in her pack n play, where she's still insisting she sleep instead of her big girl bed, oy!) and I asked her what her favorite part of the day was.  She told me that it was "checking the mail."  Not her playdate, making an art project, playing with mommy, counting the peas inside her sugar snap peas or anything else I would have considered a "meaningful" part of the day.  Why checking the mail???

I'm not quite sure what the answer is.  Maybe it's because last month were excitedly checking it waiting for a movie to arrive that I had ordered.  Or maybe it was because we got a letter yesterday from my friend Leah. Or maybe she just likes the surprise of what's ahead.  Or maybe appreciates the routine of checking the mail.  Who knows??

I don't know if it matters why.  But her response made me feel much better as a mom.  It affirms that I don't have to schedule her into a bazillion enrichment activities or worry about making every moment count as a learning opportunity.  We can be silly, have our routines, and just enjoy the last couple months before the baby comes and disrupts them!  And the mundane can be my favorite part too.