While the term Shepping Nachas is typically reserved for the 55+ crowd, I shepped.  Yesterday was my very best friends’ daughter’s Chanukah concert at daycare. Her first public performance, the actions to which she boldly practiced at home, in restaurants and in class.  The children were dressed in colourful smocks and dreidel crowns but remained lined up ‘backstage’.  Camcorders, iPhones and digital cameras were ready! As the children entered (my ‘niece’ leading the way to the carpet), marching to the beat of a Chanukah classic, they were stunned. All stunned.  There were far too many adults in the room, clapping and bopping for the toddlers to be comfortable. Over the sobs, whines and screeches, the classroom teachers and audience members contributed to the freilach feeling of celebration. All this little girl wanted was her mommy.

It was really remarkable to look around the room and watch people spanning in age from 18 months to experienced grandparents, Jews from Russia, Israel, Winnipeg and Toronto, all celebrating as a community.  The parents and teachers who instill this value and meaning into the lives of these little ones are really the individuals I’m shepping nachas from.

Below are a few of the highlights:

Leading the way...

Front and Centre!

Teacher's Pet

Yes, here I am, home with the flu.  I can probably join countless thousands others right now who are lying at home coughing, feeling exhausted and getting a bit tired of television, games and email.  I’m home with my youngest daughter who also has the flu.  I understand half her school has the flu so I guess it’s not too hard to figure out how we got it.  Yes we both feel miserable and compare how many times we’ve coughed and who has the worse headache.  She’s 9 years old so we alternate between turning the television to watch reruns of Frasier or reruns of Spongebob Squarepants.  When both of us can’t take anymore reruns, we make endless lists of our favourite characters, smells, colours, books (I read hers, she doesn’t read mine), and anything else we can think of.  Yesterday our fever broke and we were both sweating buckets – we compared whose shirt was sweatier…

Last night I found her in my bed huddled in a fever-free sweat stained little ball. I seized the moment and did something she would never let me do if she were awake.  I got into bed next to her, put my arms around her, hugged her and smelled her hair for a long time.  I listened to her breathe and for the first time since I started feeling sick I felt relaxed and calm.  While the rest of the household was hustling and bustling trying to meet schedules, deadlines, shopping and meal preps, my little one and I created a flu cocoon and made each other feel better.  It’s times like these that I understand why the Rabbis always said that Shalom Bayit, Peace in the Home, is the core foundation for everything else.  We think it refers to people arguing, but I think it refers to everything – including finding peace when every ounce of your strength is fighting a virus.

Here we are, just barely after Yom Kippur and already I have an apology – I haven’t sat at the computer and blogged for a while – sorry.  I’m tempted to say I’ve been swamped but then here we would be, barely after Yom Kippur and not only do I have something to apologize for but I would also be offering excuses for it as well.

So I’ve decided to break my pattern and not offer excuses and maybe not offer the apology but to actually fix the situation and get back to blogging.

It’s Sukkot and the weather here is not great.  It’s rainy, cloudy, at times in the evening almost 0 degrees and during the day quite windy.  The Sukkah that my family builds every year is made of canvas walls with a metal frame.  Every year we worry about the wind and that our Sukkah will soon become airborne and bring the commandment into a whole new realm.  This year we decided not to build it since the winds were quite strong.  We are now relying on the Sukkah at the shul (made of wood) and the Jewish schools.  This year we are the ones visiting in the Sukkah.  From being the hosts we are now the ‘ushpizin’ – the guests.

Aside from the question of whether or not it’s polite to ask your Sukkah host if you can sit inside because you’re freezing and shivering and your teeth are chattering…the wonderful thing about Sukkot this year is that in not building our Sukkah we didn’t realize it, but we had forced a change in perspective.

It is difficult enough to be a guest in someone else’s home but being a guest in someone else’s hut has its own set of standards.  It is a total change in perspective and if anything, that is what I want to take away with me from Sukkot this year.

Barely after Yom Kippur and being the ‘ushpizin’ at Sukkot, I realize that it’s not just about breaking our routine patterns – it’s also about changing our perspectives.

Such a flimsy little hut with so much potential for personal growth…who knew?

In reflecting on the previous year last week, I thought about choices I had made, conversations I had been a part of and I thought towards the future year. In all of my thinking, I realized that I had originally made a poor decision not to go home for Rosh Hashanah.  This decision was quickly amended when I found some reasonably priced flights home.

Having eaten, prayed and spent time with family and friends for the duration of the 48 hour chag I have to say that it was one of the best decisions I have made in a while. Upon my arrival, my mom shared with me her “menus” for the 2 days of Rosh Hashanah. It was a site to behold.  This is one of the reasons, that going home for the holidays is the only way!

In addition to my Rosh Hashanah introspection, I decided that now is the time to gather all of my mom’s recipes to compile into a book. It’s the brisket and the chicken soup and the kugel that we love so much, yet none of us have attempted to learn the tricks of the trade.  There is more to learn than simply the procedure. I want the tips and pointers and what to look for in a brisket when I’m at the grocery store.  This cook book will not only be unique because will be a compilation of my mother’s recipes, but also because I’ll assemble it into a small 3 ring binder that will make it convenient to pull pages out for grocery shopping. My first project of 5770 is underway!   Shana Tova to all!

Like many Mom’s today, I was a bundle of nerves. My oldest started grade 2. No problem on that front, he went like an old pro. It was my middle child that I was worried about. It was his first day of a brand new school. He started Junior Kindergarten, and for the first time was going for a full day, instead of his usual 11:30 pick-up and then lunch with mom. I tried not to show my nerves and put on the bravest and most excited face I could muster. He seemed nervous but ok. When it was time to say goodbye though, the tears welled up and he could barely eke out a ‘mummy, please don’t leave me here’. OY!!! For any mother who’s been through this, you know how heart wrenching it can be. I spent the rest of the day anxious and wondering what my baby was doing at every moment. I counted the hours until I could go pick him up. Unable to wait it out to the bitter end, I caved and went 45 minutes early so that I could peek into the classroom and observe him. (OK, ‘spy’ on him … you mothers know exactly what I’m talking about). I envisioned him clinging with tears to the teacher, breathlessly waiting for signs of the days end and for him mummy to reappear.