Being a parent

Jonathan tells me, "Human or animal, being a parent is all the same:"

"If I were to guess," he adds, "it's a baby boy cheetah."

#90sgirl

I just found myself explaining the difference between Babysitters Club and Sleepover Friends to Jonathan.  I was actually rather passionate.  I remembered all the characters with accuracy and detail.

He looked at me like I'd sprouted antennae.

Sigh.

#80sboys.....

CA, kids, and gender hypocrisy

There is way more truth to this image than I'm willing to admit. :)

The photo is titled "Judgments."  Read the article that accompanies it for a more in-depth analysis.  

I chortled.

Our intense youngest boy.

Quote of the day, from Xander: "When God paints the sky, the wind blows and it's like a giant eraser!"

And last but not least, image of the day:  I get home from the Board of Trustees retreat, and ask the kids what they did.  Xander was feeling sick so Daddy let him watch some TV, he said.  And then he starts summarizing the plot of how Twilight Sparkle the horsie helped all her friends in Equestria and saved the world through friendship.  My jaw dropped and I looked over to Jonathan, his grimace confirming my suspicion... yep, Jonathan spent his afternoon watching My Little Pony.  The boys apparently loved it!

Best part though, was when he told me about his illness, "If you're a lot sick you go to the hospital, and if you're a little sick you go to the doctor.  But I was just a little bit sick... so all I needed was love and I got better."

In honor of my grandmother

From an email she sent me last night:

"Today, January 24th, 2013 marks the date of my arrival in Israel as a new immigrant 36 years ago. It's where I belong."

I am so in love with the White House right now

I'm not even getting into politics.  (I have plenty to say on it, but this is not the venue.)  No, I am in love with the White House for a much more shallow reason: their carefully constructed response to the following petition is AMAZING.

WE PETITION THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION TO:

Secure resources and funding, and begin construction of a Death Star by 2016.

Those who sign here petition the United States government to secure funding and resources, and begin construction on a Death Star by 2016.

By focusing our defense resources into a space-superiority platform and weapon system such as a Death Star, the government can spur job creation in the fields of construction, engineering, space exploration, and more, and strengthen our national defense.

Created: Nov 14, 2012

Issues: Defense, Job Creation, Science and Space Policy

TOTAL SIGNATURES

34,435

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------OFFICIAL WHITE HOUSE RESPONSE TOSecure resources and funding, and begin construction of a Death Star by 2016.

This Isn't the Petition Response You're Looking For

By Paul Shawcross

The Administration shares your desire for job creation and a strong national defense, but a Death Star isn't on the horizon. Here are a few reasons:

• The construction of the Death Star has been estimated to cost more than $850,000,000,000,000,000. We're working hard to reduce the deficit, not expand it.
• The Administration does not support blowing up planets.
• Why would we spend countless taxpayer dollars on a Death Star with a fundamental flaw that can be exploited by a one-man starship?

However, look carefully (here's how) and you'll notice something already floating in the sky -- that's no Moon, it's a Space Station! Yes, we already have a giant, football field-sized International Space Station in orbit around the Earth that's helping us learn how humans can live and thrive in space for long durations. The Space Station has six astronauts -- American, Russian, and Canadian -- living in it right now, conducting research, learning how to live and work in space over long periods of time, routinely welcoming visiting spacecraft and repairing onboard garbage mashers, etc. We've also got two robot science labs -- one wielding a laser -- roving around Mars, looking at whether life ever existed on the Red Planet.

Keep in mind, space is no longer just government-only. Private American companies, through NASA's Commercial Crew and Cargo Program Office (C3PO), are ferrying cargo -- and soon, crew -- to space for NASA, and are pursuing human missions to the Moon this decade.

Even though the United States doesn't have anything that can do the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs, we've got two spacecraft leaving the Solar System and we're building a probe that will fly to the exterior layers of the Sun. We are discovering hundreds of new planets in other star systems and building a much more powerful successor to the Hubble Space Telescope that will see back to the early days of the universe.

We don't have a Death Star, but we do have floating robot assistants on the Space Station, a President who knows his way around a light saber and advanced (marshmallow) cannon, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which is supporting research on building Luke's arm, floating droids, and quadruped walkers.

We are living in the future! Enjoy it. Or better yet, help build it by pursuing a career in a science, technology, engineering or math-related field. The President has held the first-ever White House science fairs and Astronomy Night on the South Lawn because he knows these domains are critical to our country's future, and to ensuring the United States continues leading the world in doing big things.

If you do pursue a career in a science, technology, engineering or math-related field, the Force will be with us! Remember, the Death Star's power to destroy a planet, or even a whole star system, is insignificant next to the power of the Force.

Paul Shawcross is Chief of the Science and Space Branch at the White House Office of Management and Budget.

If you have an extra half-hour to kill, read this post

"What trials unite not only Harry Potter or Frodo Baggins but many of literature's most interesting heroes? And what do ordinary people have in common with these literary heroes? Matthew Winkler takes us step-by-step through the crucial events that make or break a hero."
-----Watch to see a fascinating take on the archetype of a hero.  


"What is the difference between "a hearty welcome" and "a cordial reception"? In a brief, action-packed history of the English language, Kate Gardoqui explains why these semantically equal phrases evoke such different images."
--- My English major heart goes pitter-patter.


The difference between archery as a sport, and archery as a combat technique.  This guy does things with a bow and arrow that people say are impossible.
--- Click here for new insight into the forgotten art of historical archery.
(You should know that both J and I found this video amazing in light of J's new hobby: he spends once a week at Swordfighting school!)

This article describes how the current educational method is based on Henry Ford's assembly line, moving students through in order to get results.  The one-room schoolhouse was mixed-age groupings and based on the apprenticeship mastery model, where students learned until they were done, not what was considered to be age-appropriate.  Wonderful food for thought.  And it reminded me of Montessori!

And on a lighter note.....

I need to visit Chicago.  It possesses an ice cream shop that uses liquid nitrogen to make amazing flavors and colors.

Hilarious parody of LMFAO's "Sexy and I Know It" - "I'm a Daddy and I Know It!"  This video made me very grateful to have children two and half years apart.  Two older ones and triplets, oy!

Fabulous fan parody of the changes in Star Wars, set to Gotye's "Somebody I Used to Know."  (To understand context, this is Darth Vader speaking to George Lucas.)

Also, the reason why I haven't been posting many book reviews?  Because days are fulfilling but long, and the only recommendable book I've finished lately has been the ballet and sister-centric novel The Cranes Dance by Meg Howrey, that I read at the conference.  It was an insider's perspective of the world of ballet, with a good dose of family angst thrown in.  Of course, I have been reading other things, but truth be told, they've all been pure escapist romance novels.  If you really want the recs for those, you can email me. :)

Notes to self

1) Never, EVER give children prune juice unless it's an emergency.  Even when you're out of grape juice and you need juice to put in the kiddush cup.  Even when you think the amount they will actually drink is negligible.  Apparently prune juice does its job no matter how much you consume, even if it's barely enough for a ritual.

2) All one's parental guilt can be alleviated with a stray sentence.  Another parent told me today that when the religious school teacher asked, "When do you feel safe?" Xander answered, "When my mommy tells me she loves me and I tell her I love her before I'm going to bed."  Squeeee!

3) Be more careful on explaining the thank you/you're welcome thing.  Ari is now convinced that you say "you're welcome" when you receive something because whenever we first gave him an item, or did something for him, we said, "Thank you, Ari," trying to prompt him to say it too.  It backfired, because since he knows that "you're welcome" is the response to "thank you," now he says that first!

4) These articles are really, sadly true: "For the Love of All That's Holy, You Don't Lose Your Identity When You Become a Parent, You Lose Your Minutes," and "How to Stop Mommy From Sleeping Through the Night" (thankfully, this article is now less relevant!).  I was talking with my sister at 7pm the other night, and she was all dressed up to go out, saying she was meeting someone in half an hour.  I almost couldn't compute it.  Going out of the house after dinner?   But... it's dark!  It's practically bedtime!  And then I remembered... in my 20s I used to regularly meet people for dinner at 8pm.  Now dinner's at 5:30 or 6 and by the time 8pm rolls around, I'm already in my PJs.  It doesn't even occur to me to make plans after 5pm anymore.  The evening's just gone.

5) And closely related to the above... Naps have pros and cons.  Pros: You get a break in the middle of the day.  Cons: Kids go to sleep later.  Today, for a variety of reasons, Ari only got a 20 minute nap, and Xander had none at all.  It was an exhausting afternoon.  On the other hand... Ari fell asleep at 7:24, and Xander was in bed at 7:52.  I almost don't know what to do with myself.  But whatever it is, I do know that it will involve Haagen Dazs. :)

Amazing how they can turn you to mush so easily

As we're driving home from school today:

Him: "Mommy, will you tell me a story at bedtime?"

Me: "Sure, honey."

Him:  "Actually, can you tell me a story right now?"

Me: "Umm... [gazes out at heavy rush-hour traffic] I'm sorry, I can't, I have to focus on driving.  Why don't you tell me a story instead?"

Him:  "Okay.  Once upon a time there was a Mommy... named Mommy Loving.  And she didn't like violence.  Or sword-fighting.  But she did like swings... and playing with kids... and giving kisses and snuggles.  So they did.  The end!"

Kiddos at school

Ari on the last day at his old school.

Xander in his new classroom last week, in what we're calling his "artist" shot.  I love his intensity!  (And yes, everyone... he got a haircut a few days after this was taken).

An amazing sermon from PARR, after our social justice community organizing session

Recapturing Our Prophetic Voice

Jan 10, 2013 by Rabbi Richard Levy

This week’s Torah portion recalls for us God’s promises that fill the four cups from which we drink each year at the Pesach Seder—v’hotzeiti, “And I will take you out from oppression,” v’hitzalti, and I will deliver you; v’ga-alti, “And I will redeem you,” v’lakachti, “And I will take you as My people,”—and one additional promise that fills the cup we leave untasted, the Cup of Elijah: v’heiveiti,  “And I will bring you into the Promised Land” (Ex. 6:6-8),

For our ancestor Reformers, this country was the Promised Land, and for the Reformers who founded PARR (Pacific Association of Reform Rabbis), the West was
the Promised Land—deserts and palm trees and oceans, and in the north, rain in abundance.  But we know that California and the other Western states have not lived up to that promise—we know that there is much deliverance and redemption yet to be accomplished.
 Our colleagues in the last century, hearing the call of our prophetic movement, thundered from their pulpits in support of labor, marched in Delano with farm workers, went South—or lived in the South—to help free African Americans, marched on draft boards to end the war in Vietnam, smuggled themselves into Moscow and Leningrad and Kiev to give succor to refuseniks—all the while yearning to drink the wine of Elijah’s cup in a toast to a world in which the promises had been
fulfilled.

Now it is our turn to lend our voices to the needs of people in these states, to walk the prophets through the halls of the Legislature, to work to protect the stranger from being uprooted from what has become her home, to enable these states to better teach the Torat Chayim to all their students.  Like the rabbis who have gone before us, the rabbis taking the lead in this effort tonight, and all of you who have been working on these issues much of your lives, we know that teaching Torah takes a different form in the streets and the halls of power than in our study groups, Hillels and synagogues—Torah may look like a bill in the legislature, or a lobbying effort with state senators, but Torah it is, and as Reform rabbis we have a duty to teach it wherever God calls us to speak—and to act.

Our forebears knew that to work for redemption they had to be bold.  In a time when many rabbis and rabbinic students are urged to be careful, we are preaching another message: a prophetic movement must take stands for justice, a prophetic movement must take risks for justice—else we risk forfeiting this title our movement has borne so proudly since our founding.  We must study Torah—we need always to study more Torah—but we must also take Torah into the streets with us, hold it proudly aloft as we proclaim:v’zot ha-Torah asher sam Moshe—this is the Torah which Moses and all who followed him have placed in our arms: a Torah of justice, of truth, of compassion.  We need to work on these issues— to explore how we can carry the Torah we love so deeply into a world whose people yearn so deeply for its application to their lives.

Four cups sit waiting in this week’s parasha—fill them full of your passion and your wisdom and your strength, so that we can come that much closer to filling Elijah’s Cup, to seeing the promise of this great western land fulfilled.

My fellow klei kodesh—may God fill us all to overflowing in the year to come.

- These remarks were originally delivered at PARR, on January 7, 2013, as part of the “Reform CA” Program -

Rabbi Richard N. Levy is the Rabbi of Campus Synagogue and Director of Spiritual Growth at Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles, CA. He completed a two-year term as the President of the Central Conference of American Rabbis and was the architect of the Statement of Principles for Reform Judaism, the “Pittsburgh Principles,” overwhelmingly passed at the May, 1999 CCAR Convention. Prior to joining the HUC-JIR administration, Rabbi Levy was Executive Director of the Los Angeles Hillel Council. He is also the author of A Vision of Holiness: The Future of Reform Judaism.  

Best early childhood books on spirituality in the world

I write this because I recently shared these books with two congregants, who had never heard of them, plus another rabbi friend (waves to Nicole).  These books must be seen!  They're brilliant, and completely non-denominational.  Quoting from the dust jacket:

Much has been written about the importance of reading simple, beautiful books to babies and preschoolers to stimulate brain development. But perhaps even more important, what you read begins to shape your child's world, and creates the images that will remain with him or her throughout life. We read books to our children about letters, numbers, shapes, colors, and safety, but do we give their minds the early food they need to think about life's bigger questions?

As spiritual development experts now tell us, each child develops an image of God by age 5, with or without religious instruction. Where Is God? takes you and your child on an imaginative journey designed to help you open not only your child's mind, but your child's heart and soul as well.

Click on the title for Where Is God, How Does God Make Things Happen, What Does God Look Like, and What Is God's Name.   If you want books skewed slightly older (i.e. 7 year olds, not 4), I would try Because Nothing Looks Like God and God's Paintbrush. Enjoy!

I'm back!

And I bet most of you didn't even know I was gone.  :)

I just spent four days in sunny Palm Springs at the PARR Convention, Pacific Association of Reform Rabbis.  It's the CCAR's western regional branch.

And it was amazing!  I caught up with old friends, made new ones, learned a lot at the seminars, and learned even more through networking.

Of course, calling home when I was away and hearing the boys' voices was near excruciating.  It was so lovely that I got home in the evening so I could put them to bed and snuggle.

Hooray for kidlets and husbands and kitty cats who gave me a big warm welcome!

Major kid transition

To inject a bit of seriousness into the blog: after a very difficult decision-making process, Jonathan and I came to the conclusion that the kids' current school was not a good fit.  So as of this week, both boys began at a Montessori school.  Xander already loves it, and Ari... well, let's just say that Ari's not yet two and is having some separation anxiety, but I'm sure it will get better soon.

Below are the two posters that the kids' teachers at their old school prepared for them on their last day.  Jonathan is planning on laminating each of them so we can put them up somewhere.

All the kids in his class signed it, some with more help than others.  I love all the pictures! 

For Ari's poster, not only are the pictures amazing, but if you click for a close-up, you can see that every teacher in the school wrote Ari a note.  They're really sweet.  

(Oh, and in other random kid news?  Ari now has a favorite color, blue, and Xander's willing to comply with any direction in order to get to go bike riding later.  Yay for determined children!)

My Beastie boys

So there is a fabulous kids' art exploratorium here in the City of Trees, called artBEAST Studio.  It's kind of like the embodiment of the Waldorf school system on steroids.  We had a fantastic morning there the other day: here be the visual proof.

Focused on the chalk.

Xander and I made a dreidel out of clay, how'd you guess it, while singing the song.

Ari beginning his masterpiece.

 This child is ridiculously neat.  I was trying to paint his palm so he could make a handprint... no way was that acceptable!

Painting the wall with a roller.  His favorite part wasn't the painting; it was the squirting with water in order to clean up!

Ari at the entrance to the courtyard.  Not pictured: a water structure full of funnels and dips (X got soaked), kitchen pots and pans hanging next to sticks in order to make music, and a long sand table that was actually filled with grain.

 Coming out of the play bedroom/shopping area.

 The hit of all the play places, by far: BEHOLD THE SPACESHIP.

Artsy shot of blast-off.

So many buttons and levers!

 Xander was incredibly focused on the play.  Ari just thought the whole thing was a riot.

 Making sure the boat is seaworthy.

 Our two captains.

 Playing a soulful tune.  (AKA exploring dissonance.)

Jonathan put on an AMAZING puppet show for our kids, but I was so involved in watching it, I forgot to take pictures!  He actually gathered an audience, and soon after he finished, this boy asked to join him in his next show.  Jonathan of course said yes, so both the other kid and Xander went behind the stage.

Oooh ooh ooh helmet!

 Xander the noble knight.

Toddler Carmen Miranda.

Behind the scenes: helping put on the eye mask.

 Now that he's properly attired he can go on stage.

 It's a whole new play once he's changed into his firefighter gear.

Waiting to surprise the boys when they came out of the stage area.

 Successful surprise!  The tickler dinosaur was ferocious.

 Xander's so funny, he takes it all so seriously.  Here he's having a heart to heart with the dragon about not sneaking up on people.

 Ari waving hi once we ascertained that the dragon was nice after all.

 Ah, the gross motor room.  Hula hoops and balance beams and yoga mats galore!

Ari so desperately wants to be just like his big brother, he tries everything that Xander does.  

 Somersault in progress!

 Somersault landing.

 Little brother somersault... except, this is far as he got.

 This table lit up so that you could layer the plastic pieces and explore the color palette.  We discovered that yellow on top of blue makes green, etc.  And after the boys moved to another part of the room, Jonathan made a rocketship. :)

Playing horsie after we got home.

Christmas Day

The last of the extended family photos....

 Natasha preparing to make Xander fly

 On their way to the ceiling!

 Ari not-so-subtly asking that Natasha make him fly, too.

 Playing chase.

 Then PRESENTS began.  Ari was so excited about his British "cah" I started cracking up.

 Xander giving David a huge hug in thanks... it's a basketball hoop!

Helping Liz unwrap her white elephant gift. 

That Starbucks gift didn't last long - it was stolen next turn!

The whole room bust up when I opened up Liz's offering... socks. :)

 Alicia dubious of the camera.

 Marissa sharing her new video game.

 David had to either laugh or cry at the way people kept taking his chosen present.

Nicole and her sparkly headband.

 Ari wanting his close-up, too.

 Playing with their new stunt cars, in the moment before the cars' wheels became fluorescent and they took off.

After dinner Ari learned a new word... "choc pie!"  If you look closely you can see that he has a fork in both hands.  The bobby pin in his hair had to be taken out and rinsed, due to a lovely coating of chocolate.

Leaving the hotel the next day.  It was a wonderful trip, and I was so glad to have seen everybody!