We had a good 20 minutes in Yom Kippur services this year. My 3-year-old, Harvey, napped on my husband, then woke up and gazed around with a tired, disoriented look on his face under his angelic halo of blond hair. My 7-year-old, Nate, quietly worked on his activity book, then slumped on the pew in…
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Kids & Family
Kids & Family
A working parent’s Yom Kippur apology
Like so many of you, I’m a working mom trying to juggle it all — my kid, my job and, you know, my life. For the High Holidays, I was inspired to write a…
Mixed & Matched
Why I want to take my daughter to the mikvah with me when I convert
Dear Dawn: I married my Jewish husband a decade ago. We agreed to raise our children as Jews and joined a Reform synagogue when our daughter was born.…
Parenting
My daughter started college, and I’m back at Mommy 101
As a new mother, I had a dedicated bookshelf for parenting books. Classics such as “What to Expect the First Year,” “The Womanly Art of…
Parenting
As a parent, how can I do what’s best for the climate?
My 7-year-old son, Nate, loves airplanes. He has folded hundreds of paper airplanes. He built a large cardboard airplane out of our recycling. We have…
Bay Area
At Mega Challah Bake, all you ‘knead’ is flour and a little prayer
Food coverage is supported by a generous donation from Susan and Moses Libitzky. There was a flurry of motion as 300 hands reached for flour, added yeast…
Parenting
Apples and honey, back-to-school, and pressing reset
I love how the new school year aligns so closely with the new Jewish year. And as summer winds down, in our house, we begin to get ready for both. The…
Mixed & Matched
It’s not your son’s girlfriend’s job to seek Judaism
Dear Dawn: How many times do I have to hear a Jewish parent worry about the future of their child’s romance with a non-Jew? At a recent lunch with several…
Parenting
Summertime parenting can be magical — and miserable
I unrolled a scroll of butcher paper, tore off a piece and drew 10 empty boxes in a line, under the heading, “Nate and Harvey play nice together.” Each…