Inside LO's head

When LO was younger there were several times a day where she would say something and I would just have to giggle at how her mind works. As she has gotten older, those moments still happen, but not quite as often as they used too. However, the past few days have been a little different and I thought I share a few of my favourites with you all...

LO asked me what a legend is. I explained and then she said, "Like Amelia Bedelia, right?" I replied, "Well, not really but..." She interrupted to explain how Amelia Bedelia flew her airplane all the way across the ocean but got lost in the Atlantic never to be found again. I said, "I think you meant Amelia Earhart."

She just looked at me and started giggling. (Should I be scared of what she is NOT learning in school?)

To keep LO from simply watching TV and playing games on the Internet all summer, we have decided to have our own little book club. We are currently reading "The Hebrew Kid and the Apache Maiden" by the most wonderful and talented Robert J. Avrech of Seraphic Secret. We each read a chapter and then we discuss it. When we first started reading it, she asked me what an Apache Maiden was. She thought this meant she was someone's maid. I explained that an Apache is a member of an Indian tribe. Then she wanted to know if that was like a Cohen or a Levite. Oy, is this kid Jewish or what?

This morning she was marveling over fake grass. They replaced the mulch at her old school with this grass and we saw some of it at Disney World. The conversation went like this:

LO: Why do people want fake grass?

Me: Well, maybe they don't want to cut the grass.

LO: But they could just buy a lamb and have the lamb eat the grass. As long as it doesn't poop on the grass.

8 things

(photo by claudecf)

Babka Nosher tagged me for this meme asking for 8 facts/habits about me.

The Rules are:
~ Each player lists 8 facts/habits about themselves.
~ The rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed.
~ At the end of the post, the player then tags 8 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

This is an awful like this old meme but I guess that means I'll just have to share a little more! Here goes...

1. I drink what I am sure is an unhealthy amount of coffee and diet coke everyday. (Let's hear it for CAFFEINE - YAY!)


2. I taught myself to read Hebrew from several books after I realized that LO could read more Hebrew than I could.


3. I worked in the theatre on the cruise ship the SS Norway doing the show “Will Rogers Follies”. Before that I worked in the theatre on the cruise ship MS Seaward doing the show “Grease”.
   


4. My English middle name is also LO's first name.


5. My car has a navigation system in it because I am directionally challenged.


6. I have struggled with food issues for as long as I can remember and I even went here for help several times. (Ultimately keeping kosher is what saved me!)


7. I love to scrapbook and my scrapbook pages have been published in Memory Makers, Creating Keepsakes and a CK Idea Book.


8. When LO is asleep, sometimes I play games on her Gameboy. (Shhh...don't tell!)

I tag Z, Hila, Raggedy Mom, Amy Guth, Amishav, Tamara, Another Meshugganah Mommy, and Suburban Kvetch (who has been MIA for months but maybe this will bring her out!)

The Mezuzah Police

(Mezuzah from the Gary Rosenthal collection)

The other night we were at shul and when we were leaving LO was holding the door for everyone. I noticed that she was paying special attention to each and every person who passed through the door. As they walked through the door she would either shake her head or proceed to look at the next person. I asked her what she was doing. She told me that she was watching to see who touched the mezuzah when they left the room and who didn't. (And I thought it was nuts when she acts like the kosher police.)

As cute as this was (and puzzling because you never know what she is going to come up with next), I made an interesting observation. The only people who touched the mezuzah when they left were all converts (myself and LO included). I wonder if this was a phenomenon of this group or if this happened outside of our little group. How about you? Do you touch the mezuzah on any doorpost that you see them on or only on your own home? And at home, if you have them on every room, do you touch them when you enter and exit each room?

An animal encounter

So, while Neil is writing about pigeons on his porch, Babka Nosher is writing about her dog Rudy's antics, we learn just how much Amishav loves cats, and Jack has something to say about his love of cats as well, I have a little animal story of my very own.

Yesterday I stepped into the shower and turned the water on. I turned to reach for the soap and guess what I found in the shower...

If you guessed a RAT, then you guessed right. Umm...but it wasn't quite as cute as this picture. Oh and another thing...it was DEAD. Apparently the cat thought she needed to bring us a present. Oh the joys of an indoor/outdoor cat.

(BTW - LO's reaction was a very dramatic "EWWWWW!!!" But then her curious side took over as she visually inspected our dead little friend...."Mama, how come the rat doesn't have a tail?" Do we have to say kaddish?)

And why does this song keep playing in my head?

*Special thanks to our friend SS who so bravely removed our dead little friend for us! (There was NO WAY I was moving that darn thing!)

The Kosher Police strike again

For an 8 year old LO takes keeping kosher pretty seriously. (I've posted about this previously here and here.) Tonight while I was watching television, LO was playing with her Webkinz on the computer. A commercial for Dunkin Donuts advertising a special for iced coffee and a ham breakfast sandwich came on. LO suddenly quit playing, looked at me and matter-of-factly said, "I have one thing to say about that - NOT KOSHER." Without even blinking an eye, she then turned back to the computer and continued playing her game.

That's my little kosher police for you. I wonder if the OU is hiring.

They didn't look Jewish

We were at shul the other night baking fresh pita. (Yum - if you have never done this you should try - it is AWESOME!) Since we spend loads of time there, it is like a second home to us and there really is no need for LO to be at my side every moment. She usually plays in the school playground which is right outside the kitchen or she reads in the library. She is always sure to check in every now and then.

On this night, she apparently needed to use to the restroom. She ran by telling me she was going to the restroom and moments later she came back to the kitchen and had a very frightened look on her face. She said, "Mama, there were some ladies in the bathroom and they talked to me but they didn't look Jewish, so I didn't talk to them." Imagine my surprise after have just posted this when I heard coming out of my own child's mouth "they didn't look Jewish".

All the women in the kitchen stopped to listen to what would happen next. I asked her, "What do you mean they didn't look Jewish?" She replied, "I have never seen them in the synagogue before, so they must not be Jewish."

I explained that it was better to say that she didn't recognize them as people from the synagogue or as people that she knew. And I was certainly relieved that her explanation didn't include some form of stereotyping. I can only hope it will always be this way.

Fiddler Muzak

The bathrooms in my Corporate America office have all of a sudden been playing Fiddler on the Roof muzak! Why does this make me giggle every time I have gone in there? Do you think anyone would appreciate it if I sang along?

Jews Come in All Colors

(photo: Jewish Multicultural Network)

PHD's mom and I went out to lunch this weekend. She's a big mahjong maven in her community and she basically knows everyone there. A woman came over to our table to say hello to her. They proceeded to have a conversation but I noticed that the woman was staring at me. At some point in the conversation, PHD's mom said something in Yiddish and I giggled at what she had said. The woman questioned, "You understood what she said?" I replied, "Of course." She then said, "You're Jewish? I mean, I see you wear the Star of David but you're Jewish?" By then another friend has come to the table and next thing you know she is pointing at me and saying, "She's Jewish."

I really should be used to this by now. But it made me think about a conversation I had with PHD not too long ago. He said that when we are together, people assume that I converted so that we could be together. This does not surprise me and actually offends me. Why is it so hard to understand that someone could have such a love for Judaism that they would convert for that reason only? Why assume that marriage is the only reason? How about you all out there...if you met a Jewish couple where one of the them was Asian or African or any other race, would you assume this? Or are you ever surprised when you meet someone who is not "sterotypically Jewish looking" when you find out that they are Jewish?

It's pineapple time!

Looks like we'll be having pineapple for Shabbat! Freshly picked by LO from our garden! Yum!

Shabbat Shalom!

Where would you honeymoon?

PHD and I had a discussion the other day about honeymoon destinations. My first thought was Israel. (Does that surprise anyone?) He said that we would take many trips to Israel but that it was not the most romantic of destinations. (I'm not so sure I agree with that BTW.)

So I asked, "Where else then?" Hawaii? Too cliche. Paris? Been there, done that. Disney World? Nah. Bali? South Africa?

If you could choose anywhere in the world to go where would you go? Or for those of you who are married, where did you go? Or if money, time, and/or kids were not an issue where would would you vacation? Inquiring minds want to know.

LO's newest pets

I am not sure if these are a big thing for kids everywhere but Webkinz seem to be all the rage here in South Florida. They are sort of like beanie babies but you get an electronic code with each animal which allows you to go on their website and play with your virtual pet. And of course I could never allow LO to be the kid at school that only has ONE of them.

It should come as no surprise that her naming trend has continued.

She wanted the white dog to be a girl and while she was thinking of a girl's name she quizzed me, "Mama, what's Abraham's wife's name?" She caught me off guard and for a second I thought it was a trick question. Yep - she named her "Sarah".

She named the panda "Moses" and Moses came to shul with us for Shabbat. The Rabbi got her to call him "Moishe" and he pointed out to her that he had seen Moishe shuckling. She believed him and was like a proud mother that her little panda knew how to daven. It was too cute.

And the latest addition to the family is the Pug. I keep thinking maybe she'll start naming them names like "Fluffy" or "Rover" or "Precious" or something like these typical pet names but no, not my LO. She named this little guy "Eliyahu" and everytime I see her playing with him she is usually singing or humming "Eliyahu HaNavi".

Oy, what could possibly be next? Anyone want to offer up some suggestions?

(Best friend El and I looked at a photo of her family from the early 1900's and chose Gittel and Yehudalaya but LO was not too fond of those.)