Where has the magic gone?

Sam has had a loose tooth for quite some time. I, personally, was a tooth puller. The thing got loose and I was all over figuring out how to get it out of my mouth fast. Sam, on the other hand, was a prolonger. He wanted to keep that darn tooth in his mouth as long as possible.

Which left us plenty of time to discuss
The Tooth Fairy.

Sam insists that it is not real.

Which, of course, it isn't.

So why am I so upset and annoyed about this? Why do I care that my child doesn't believe in a fairy tale, a fantasy, a made-up concept?

I think it's because I'm sad that he isn't at all interested in magic.

You know, magic.


He is such a realist, such a pragmatist, that he can't even believe in magic. He won't. (Trust me, I tried.)

I've been thinking a lot about why this bothers me. And I've figured it out.

It's about God.

I know, for sure, that not believing in the Tooth Fairy will not necessarily lead to a lack of faith in God.
(After all, I know that there's no Tooth Fairy but I'm pretty confident about my belief in God._

But I think that is my worry. If he is so certain, so sure, so absolutely positive that The Tooth Fairy doesn't exist...how much harder will it be for me to convince him that there is a Holy One, that the God of my Ancestors is his God as well?

We talk about God all the time in my house. I want him to have a connection, a relationship, a belief.

Is that too much to ask?
Sigh....this parenting thing is hard.

P.S. Here's what I had to say when David lost his first tooth.

Books for Shavuot {Reviews & Giveaway}

Shavuot is a pretty major holiday that gets a pretty major short-shrift in the mainstream world. The grocery stores aren't putting out their displays for this holiday. (Last year, my family had a great Shavuot observance, which I'm hoping to replicate in some way again this year.) That's why I was so excited to receive a package of Shavuot books from Kar-Ben Publishing!

They sent me four books:

No Rules for Michael by Sylvia Rouss

My kids loved this one. Partly because their dad's name is Michael, and he is pretty mischievous in this book! A really sweet story about a boy who wants NO rules, and when he gets it...well, you can only imagine.

Ten Good Rules: A Counting Book by Susan Remick Topek

Adorable photographs and simple print accompany this introduction to the 10 commandments, while also pointing out the "counting" lesson, which my kids are always really into. We enjoyed this one as well!

Sammy Spider's First Shavuot by Sylvia Rouss

If you haven't met Sammy, you should. The cute little spider lives in a great house where they're always observing Jewish holidays. "Silly little Sammy...spiders don't celebrate Shavuot, spiders spin webs!" That's what Mrs. Spider always tells her son...but he ends up celebrating the holiday anyway. Sammy watches the way that the Shapiro family prepares for the holiday. I must admit, this one was a little bit of a stretch for me in Sammy-land, but my kids, especially my own Sammy, loved it.

The Littlest Mountain by Barb Rosenstock

This was my favorite of the four! It is a lovely adaptation of a midrash in Bereshit Rabbah, telling the story of the mountains competing to be the site of the giving of the Ten Commandments. The illustrations are beautiful and the story is told so sweetly. I wasn't sure if my kids would like it but they really did, they asked to have this one read again! I love how the story reminds us that impressing God is not about our size or our accomplishments, but rather how kind and caring we are.

The Littlest Mountain was also my family's PJ Library selection this month, so I'm giving away the copy from Kar-Ben to one of you, my lucky readers! Leave me a comment here to be entered to win. Ends on Friday morning so I have time to get you your book before Shavuot!

What's your favorite book for Shavuot?

Full disclosure: Kar-Ben sent me the books for review, and my family has read them over and over again.

Up next....pizza?

There are a lot of milestones in the first year.
But eating food? That's a big one.
A whole new world opens up.
He doesn't look too sure, though, does he?

Dear Solly, I promise, food will be one of your favorite things.
Just wait...chocolate is way better than rice cereal!

A Sweet Memory

My Bubbie Raye died this week.

She was my mother's mother. (My father's mother, bless her, is doing well at 95.)
Bubbie was 93 years old, and had 11 grandchildren and 20 great-grandchildren.

A few weeks ago, my mom was visiting her and brought to me all of her recipes. Some were not much to write home about, but I found what I wanted.

Bubbie Raye did not live in town, so she would come to visit and we would visit her. For all of her traveling years, those visits began with mohn (poppyseed) cookies. She would pull them out of her suitcase at our house or we would find the container in hers. Not-too-sweet, very simple and plain, full of those little black seeds. It never occurred to me that I could make them myself, they were hers.

So when I heard the news that she had died, I went to the store and got some poppyseeds.

And I made cookies...

Her recipe for Poppyseed Cookies (in case you can't read her handwriting)

Beat:

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

1/2 (cup) crisco

1/4 cup oil

Combine and add to egg mixture

3 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

pinch salt

Then add 1/4 cup poppyseeds

Refrigerate overnight - roll out and cut into shape with a glass.

Bake at 350.

Now, she didn't say how long - I'm sure she made them so often that was second nature. But I'll tell you, 8 minutes is just perfect. Oh, and I put them on parchment paper, but I'm sure she didn't do that either. 

I have many memories of her, but biting into those cookies?

Very sweet.

Me and my Bubbie, in 2008

May her memory be for a blessing - zichrona livracha.

Cool Stuff Every Kid Should Know {Guest Review and Giveaway}

I received a copy of Cool Stuff Every Kid Should Know: Chicago and the State of Illinois. I decided that this was the perfect book for my oldest son, David, to help me out with. He is 9 years old and an avid reader.

He read the book and here is his interview:

Did you like this book? 
Yeah. It was a good book.

Why?
Because it had some pretty interesting facts and a lot of stuff I didn't know.

What was one of your favorite parts?
I liked reading about the Butter Cow. It says in the book that the butter cow sculpture is made out of 800 pounds of butter to cover a wood and wire frame to make a cow. It is very big.

What was something else that you thought was interesting?
When it is St. Patrick's Day in Chicago they make the water green in the Chicago River. They say in the book that it is a formula that is eco-friendly. I really want to go to that special celebration. {Ima's note: we live about 25 miles north of the city of Chicago but my poor, deprived children almost never go into the city.}

Anything else?
I thought it was weird because the Chicago style hot dog is made without ketchup. I really like ketchup on my hot dogs. I don't like any of the other stuff.

Do you think that kids should read this book?
I do. If they want to learn some cool facts about Chicago.

Thumbs up or thumbs down?
Thumbs up!

Ima's turn: This is a great little book for learning more about your own hometown. If we were going to take a trip to one of the other cities for which they've done these books, I would definitely acquire that book for my kids. (They've done 22 cities.) It is colorful, bright, and full of interesting little facts that I didn't even know! (Like...did you know that Chicago's O'Hare Airport's code, ORD, is for its original name, Orchard Field? Yeah, me neither.) And I thought it was really neat that this book was published recently enough that the 2011 blizzard was mentioned.

The publisher, Arcadia Publishing, is offering a 20% discount if you buy through their site, just enter the word COOL at checkout to get this discount. There's also a money back guarantee!

So...great book. Wanna win it? 
Just leave me a comment telling me about your favorite city to visit with kids.
Tweet it or Facebook it and you get an extra entry.
(Leave me a comment telling me you did it, please.)

Giveaway closes before Shabbat, Friday afternoon.

Full disclosure: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher for review. I'm giving it away to one of you. I was not compensated for the review, although my young reviewer might have gotten a bribe payment extra treat for helping me out.

Five Months Old

(it all ended badly when he started chasing down the sign...first time I've had to pull paper out of this baby's mouth. I'm going to guess it won't be the last!)

How are ya....

Dear Blog,
I miss you. How are you? I hope you're doing well in what appears to be my absence.
I do expect to see you again very shortly. Posts are ruminating in my head, begging to be written.
But many other things seem to be getting in my way. A few of them are due in the next 10 days, so I'm expecting to be back here after that.
In addition, I'm working on convincing the little guy that I'm not an all-night diner.
But how can you really resist this face?

So...dear Blog, Shabbat Shalom. Let's have lunch soon, k?
Love,
the Ima