Dear Dawn: My son Joey’s bar mitzvah was scheduled for June of this year and now it can’t happen as planned. Our synagogue is closed. Some of my son’s peers are having a Zoom bar mitzvah on their scheduled date and planning to have a chance to read their Torah portion to the congregation at…
Read More
Kids & Family
Parenting
From the precipice of an empty nest to four under one roof
It was kind of fun in the beginning. We played board games. We wore our pajamas all day. We took long walks in the rain. The kids talked to us. But it’s…
Local Voice
The means of community have changed, the meaning has not
As I walked the other day in my neighborhood, acknowledging I am privileged to be able to do that, I saw posted on a window: “We are inside separately,…
Parenting
Escaping NYC for more space in Maine — and the best bagel ever
When I was a child, I knew where to find the world’s best bagel: at Mister Bagel, in Portland, Maine. When my parents brought me into the…
First Person
A brutal lesson of perseverance for our kids — and us, too
There’s a critique I once read about the famous “marshmallow test,” in which children were given a marshmallow and told that if they didn’t eat it…
Religion
Orthodox Jews find creative workarounds for b’nai mitzvahs
During the coronavirus pandemic, many bar and bat mitzvah ceremonies in the Bay Area and around the globe are being streamed online, while others have…
Health
How parents of kids with mental health issues are coping
Marla B.’s son suffers from depression and anxiety and has been in therapy since he was 6 or 7. “He was always a challenging child,” she said. “He has the…
Mixed & Matched
How do I tell people that, yes, my kids are Jewish?
Dear Dawn: I keep being told that my kids aren’t Jewish because I am not Jewish. I am sick of hearing this! Any ideas how I can shut people down? I’ve…
Parenting
Our isolation has rekindled my motherly ways — and I like it
I have regressed. I make my son breakfast during the week and bring it to him in his room, where he starts his virtual school day at his desk. I make…