Tag: family

  • #ImmigrantParentProblems.

    So, for just a minute, humor me. I make an ongoing effort to forget how hard this is. I swallow a lot in order to make the daily grind seem easier. And I try to push away my lucky, amazing, beautiful problems because I know so many people have much worse challenges: poor health… empty…

  • The F-word.

    I’m not my best at 4am. Then again, show me someone who is. Last night, everyone I live with made a subconscious decision to be very much awake and in some sort of need at 4am. My son woke up to pee. Innocent enough, and while I’m very proud, he did it in a shrieking, freaking, panic-y…

  • And then there were four…

    Having two kids, I’ve heard people say, means now we’re a ‘real’ family… Of course, it’s silly to think there is a limited definition to ‘real family.’ Two parents and a child felt pretty real, but so did being a couple before that. And I’m pretty sure it’s just the same whether it’s one parent…

  • Back to gan.

    We got back from Australia/Hong Kong late Monday night, kept off the radar yesterday and went back to respective offices/gans today. The report from Koala’s ganenet was – shockingly good, for a kid who doesn’t sleep much on airplanes. He is definitely taller than when he left. He went to the play kitchen and did…

  • Got a feeling this whole family’s going down.

    It’s amazing the things you can plan a year in advance and then when the date finally arrives, you’re scrambling to make it all happen. Weddings… Babies… Trips to Australia… Oh, that? Yeah, we’re leaving tomorrow on a long-awaited, long-planned, finally here month-long trip to Australia to visit the family. And introduce Koala to most…

  • Homemade family magnets.

    Don’t know about your kids, but mine loves to play with the fridge magnets. Well, with the fridge, period, but also, with the fridge magnets. I combined that fact with a tip my mother (an early intervention specialist) gave me: show photos of family members to baby or toddler and teach them the names –…

  • Koala update: ten weeks.

    Is there any other example of how much we can change and grow in just a week or two? Do we ever grow and change as rapidly as we do at two months old? A lot’s happened in the last month, and I’ll try to break it down. We’re inching closer to doubling the Koala’s…

  • American taste since…

    Ah, the good old days. Pesach celebrated with the family back in America. My grandmother’s Sephardi dishes, my brothers’ haggadah-reading entertainment.  And of course, who could hold an American Pesach seder with the family without this gem of an experience:  Kedem grape juice! I know plenty of American olim who claim that it’s better than…

  • What's been going on.

    The past week and a half has been intense, painful, busy, impatient,  energetic, emotional, nerve-wracking and exciting. And it’s not only for the reason you’re probably assuming. I haven’t  been able to get all my thoughts out in an organized manner, so instead I’ll spew them in bullet form. People will ask what gender your…

  • Doda? That's me.

    Last night I got to be the family member who picks up my cousin’s sick kid from a camping trip near my house. Basically, I have Israeli cousins up north, and they sent their daughter on a youth movement camping trip which was located about 15 minutes from my place. She had called them late…

  • A little late, but a lizrael update.

    Haven’t done this in a while, but here goes. Aliyah At this point, I’ve been living in Israel for three and a half years. Seems like so much longer… I can now count ‘old friends’ I had when I first came, I have a lengthy list of apartments I’ve lived/crashed in, I’ve been married for…