The Reason We Clean Up

from: http://www.etsy.com/market/make_it_big?ref=l2

. . . is so that the room can get messy again.

I only pick up the toys so that Shlomo can dump them again.

Because, see, there’s no real reason to clean.  Obviously, if I’m picking up toys, I’m playing a game with him.  A game called, “Pick It Up and Take It Down.”  And it really is a fun game.  (Actually, yes, it is – depending on the mood of the parent cleaning and the time of day.)

Seriously, though, Shlomo thinks that if he gets praised to clean up – then if he dumps the toys and starts cleaning up again, he’ll get more praise.  Isn’t that true?

So, why not dump the toys?

 

 

 

 

*To those interested: I am not becoming cynical.  (I am, however, getting writers’ block.)  Yitzchak told me to post about this topic, and I had to think of a decent way to do it.

Student Aliya (Immigration to Israel)

Yesterday I was thinking about how I moved to Israel.

Or rather, I was thinking about how, when I visited my family one summer, I met one of my eighth-grade teachers.  She asked what I was doing, how I was doing, where I was.  I told her that I was studying for a B.Ed. and had moved to Israel.

But I felt funny saying that.  Really, I didn’t live in Israel.  I mean, technically, I had.  But I kept coming back for the summers, because my “home” was a student dorm, that was closed in the summer, and where I switched apartments every school year.

I didn’t feel like I lived here.

Now, I live here.

When I think back to when I made aliya, I think it was a smart move.  The government gave me a huge subsidy for my degree.  They gave me a small, but helpful, rent subsidy (which disappeared, for reasons of bureaucracy, when I married Yitzchak).  I had a place to live, and during vacations, had people to stay with.

I paid a dorm fee and food.  I didn’t pay electricity, water, gas, property tax.  I paid for my schoolbooks and transportation, laundry and food.  I didn’t pay most of my tuition fees, or for rent during vacation.

It was a smart move.  It was a good thing to do.

And if you’re a single student, it’s probably a really good option.

Now, if – when? – I go to visit Canada, I can honestly say that we live in Israel.  We do.

And I don’t like to fly, so I am happy that we have our own little apartment here in Israel.

Once, I used to like flying.  That was when I was single.

Somehow, after we got married, I stopped liking flights.  Maybe it’s because of all the flying I did while we were engaged.  Maybe it’s because now, I fly with Yitzchak, and he packs differently and plans for flights differently.

Maybe it’s because we have Shlomo.

Maybe I’m just more tired and like to stay home more.

I don’t know.  Truthfully, I don’t care, either.

As long as we can stay happily at home.

But if my sister or brother asks whether they should make aliya and get a degree here – my answer will undoubtedly be yes.

It was a good choice.

The Table Is Not For Climbing On

And the computer is NOT a toy!

Nor is my new mouse.

Thank you.

.

Oh – and just by the way -

mercury thermometers

are not for playing with.

You might break it,

and then the mercury

will spill all over the floor.

Good thing I can manage

two days without it, huh?

.

Oh – and books -

even spiral-bound books -

are for reading,

not for taking the spirals out of.

.

You are one tough two-year-old.

Hopefully, soon, you will get over

your contradictory phase

and start playing with real toys,

instead of everything I tell you

NOT to play with.

.

In the meantime,

we love you.

Always have,

and always will.

.

So stay with us

for a very long time.*

Well, at least until

you grow up,

get married,

and have your own kids

who will drive you (and your wife) nuts.

.

.

.

.

.

*Do any of you know the book “Koala Lou, I DO love you”?

Blogging Dilemma

What do you do, when you want to write about something very personal on your blog – but there are people in your family who sometimes read your blog, and you haven’t told them about it – and don’t plan to tell them anytime soon?

See, if I write what I want to write – I might get an angry phone call from specific members of my family, asking why I didn’t tell them.

The reason I didn’t tell these people is that I didn’t want them to know.  I don’t regret that decision one bit.  I STILL don’t want them to know.

What I do regret is giving them this blog’s address, when I first began writing.  I started this blog so that I would have writing samples for potential employers, and so that my writing skills – and my English – would not go down the drain.  (Seriously, I think in Hebrew a lot.  I also dream in Hebrew sometimes, and when I talk to myself, I often speak in Hebrew.  It messes up my English, a lot.)

So I wanted them to have the address, so that they could pass it on to anyone potentially interesting in hiring me as a writer.  Honestly, I don’t think that’s happened.  I got a lot of people asking me for online writing samples, so I started this blog.  However, because I’m a follower of Murphy, I haven’t received any offers, or requests, since then.

My family still has the address, though.  Do they read it?  I don’t know.  I don’t think so, obviously, or else I wouldn’t be writing this post.  But I don’t want to get a phone call from M. drilling me on details of my life that I didn’t want to share with her.  I just – don’t.

So, I don’t write.  That is why I haven’t written for this past week.  That is why, for the past month, and even before that, my writing has become more and more sporadic.  Because this personal issue is taking a lot of my time and energy, and often, it takes up most of the non-parenting, non-working thoughts that I have.

What do I do?

I guess I just wait it out, and ask you to wait with me.

Hopefully soon, I will have other things to think about, and my head will be clear again.  Until then, bear with me.

(For those who think they know, and who think I’m pregnant – I’m not, or at least, not to my knowledge.  This is a different issue.)

Travels of My Pillow (And Blanket)

Last night, Shlomo was having trouble falling asleep, again.  I went in, hugged him again, tucked him in, gave him a kiss, and walked out.

Two and a half hours later, Yitzchak walks in to get our pajamas.  (We have a one-bedroom apartment.  Hopefully, that will change in the summer.)

“Did you give Shlomo your pillow?” he asks.

“Does he have my pillow?”

Yes, he does.  Shlomo has my pillow and – unnoticed to Yitzchak – my blanket.  How?  I guess he reached out of his crib and managed somehow to grab them off my bed and drag them into his.  The pillow isn’t surprising – one end of his crib meets the head of my bed, with a few inches between them.  The blanket – I have no idea how he got.

But there he was, sleeping on his pillow and an inch of mine, with my pillow almost standing straight up behind his head.  And my blanket?  Between his knees, covering only the lower part of his legs.  I guess it helped him fall asleep.

It was such a cute picture, but I didn’t want to risk waking Shlomo up.  Oh, well.

My only question is:  Is the interest in my pillow because he doesn’t like his?  Or because my pillow is mine?

More Work-At-Home Ideas

I’m out of inspiration at the moment . . .

But here is a link that someone sent me, on a few more ideas of how to make money from home.  Some of them are traditional, others a little more creative.

Take a look, add your comments, and enjoy!

Just remember: Working from home isn’t for everybody.  It can be tough.  And as it says in the article, if it seems too good to be true, then it probably is.  There is no magic money-making formula.

Words That Echo

I asked a question on Friday.

The answer echoes within me.

I updated the question on Sunday.

And the answer echoes within me.

Echoes,

Echoes,

The caring,

The warmth,

The gentle interrogation, so that he would have a full picture,

All of it echoes in me,

Healing the scars of misconceptions not unfounded,

Of trying times and feeling stuck,

Healing my belief in G-d and Judaism.

Healing my belief that the Judaism we have today,

Is not in contradiction to the Judaism that G-d wants.

I am so glad I found this rabbi.