Maybe I'll Shower Today

  • An epic Chanukah starts with PJ Library and Manischewitz

    My kids love cookies (who doesn’t?), and have enjoyed making holiday-themed cookie houses at school and elsewhere. And, while those are a lot of fun for children, they tend to be more Christmas themed, which can make Jewish kids like mine feel a bit excluded. So, when our family got…

  • What the presidential election can teach our kids about losing

    My family loves board games. My husband, myself and my oldest particularly enjoy playing Monopoly and often get lost in intense, days long battles for money and property. Much like his parents, my son is very competitive and questions every action taken during the game and cries foul when something…

  • Now more than ever, families need internet access

    My son groaned loudly. He got disconnected from his virtual school meeting, again. At the same time, my husband was on a video conference call, and I was working on a writing assignment. Three people. All needing Internet access at the same time. All dealing with the limitations of this…

  • So your kid is curious about keeping kosher

    As kids get older, they naturally get more curious about the world around them and why they do certain things. Being a Jewish family, who keeps a kosher home, we observe a number of rules: separate dishes and utensils, no pork, shellfish or other unkosher foods in our house and…

  • 2020: The year of canceled dreams and postponed wishes

    Since the world stopped earlier this year, our November trip to Disney World was a beaming light of hope. By then, surely, the pandemic would be under control, or at least manageable enough to allow us to travel without too much worry. But, as the months went by and the…

  • Sharing an honest perspective on Christopher Columbus with kids

    Like most kids who grew up in the United States, I first learned about Christopher Columbus through the popular poem: In Fourteen Hundred And Ninety TwoColumbus sailed the ocean blue. Columbus was part of a greater bunch of lessons that put a positive spin on colonization, and downplayed — or…

  • Here’s what I did when my son called Trump a ‘F@#K’

    “Donald Trump is a F@$%!” The words struck me speechless. My elementary-age child dropping the F-bomb about Donald Trump, the President of The United States. If you follow me, you know I rarely, if I ever speak about Trump. Sure I will comment on mistreatment of asylum seekers, racial injustice…

  • Yom Kippur and the lesson of sincere remorse

    Forced apologies is a common parenting practice I despise. Let me be clear, I believe we need to encourage our children to think about their actions and be mindful of when they make mistakes. However, there’s a difference between telling a kid to parrot the words “I’m sorry” to another…

  • Sisters “Challah Back” in the name of social justice

    The Challah Back Girls are on a mission to fill hearts and tummies with their unique cause-centered business that delivers delicious challah (a traditional Jewish bread used on the Sabbath and holidays) to your doorstep and gives back their profits to a deserving charity each month. Ahead of the busy…

  • 9/11, pandemics and missing New York City

    On September 11, 2001, I was a college freshman at a University about three hours north and west of New York City. That morning, I walked over to my 10 a.m. class and was greeted by a note on the door informing us that we would not be meeting today.…