Our oldest child is 18 and has decided she no longer wants to eat meat. This has less to do with saving animals and more to do with saving the planet. She worries about our warming climate. We all need to do more, she tells me. She is right. Our Jewish values have guided my…
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Parenting
Parenting
I’m an introvert, but my extroverted toddler can’t get enough of me
My youngest child, Harvey, will turn 3 on St. Patrick’s Day. It’s an odd birthday for a Jewish kid with no Irish ancestry, but one that he…
Parenting
My grandma’s chicken soup means the world to me
I have been trying to re-create my grandmother’s chicken soup for more than 15 years. Though my chicken soup is not her chicken soup, I like to think they…
Parenting
Now that my 6-year-old is reading, he can’t get enough
Already in 2019, I’ve taught my son to read. I can’t imagine I’ll accomplish anything that tops that this year. I had help, of course:…
Parenting
Return of the mommy brain: the teenage sequel
My mommy brain is back. I thought that foggy postpartum brain-drain feeling was supposed to go away once my babies started sleeping through the night. But…
Parenting
Road tripping with 2 young kids — fun times, or madness?
Last fall was a season of road trips for my family. A couple of years ago, we uprooted our lives in California and now live in New York. I miss living in…
Parenting
Bay Area bliss meets New York state of mind
We’ve been traveling back East for the holidays to see family since our kids were little. Thankfully, we no longer have to schlep car seats. And I no…
Parenting
It took time, but now we have our perfect Jewish Christmas
When I was 5, I asked my mom if Santa Claus was real. “Are you sure you want to know?” she asked. I was. So she told me: Santa Claus is real, but he…
Parenting
Why is the Pittsburgh shooting still affecting me?
I know a Rose Mallinger. And a Jerry Rabinowitz. The nine others murdered at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh are familiar to me, too. They are…