More Than Four Sides

Category: kids

  • Kindergarten, interrupted

    Well, we were going along so well, with Days One and Two successfully completed, and no major meltdowns. We were enjoying a lovely evening at home yesterday, with both boys playing so nicely together, and painting lovely pictures. We were getting dinner started, and J climbed into my lap and said, “My head hurts.” I…

  • First day of school – the afternoon

    So getting on the bus in the morning went surprisingly well, and i had promised J that I would pick him up early from day care. I approached the multipurpose room with some trepidation, half expecting an exhausted and upset little boy. To my delight, all the kids were seated together at the far end…

  • First Day of School

    We have been anticipating this day for nearly a year.  J started Kindergarten. But, he’d been denying that fact since the first day of last year at his preschool, when he entered the Aryot (Lions in Hebrew) class, and we knew that this was his last year at his beloved TI-ECC! (If you live in…

  • Addicted to reading

    S actually feel asleep tonight in a sphinx-like pose in front of his tablet, reading the first Percy Jackson book, The Lightning Thief. How can anyone sleep like that? After about 10 minutes, he finally rolled off his elbows. Good night, dear readers!

  • Ski day

    It looks like the snow is finally gone (i hope), so before the memory fades, let me document my day off skiing with the boys. It was a Sunday, and Dad was out of town for the weekend for a business trip. When we first met, he was an avid skier, but we haven’t gone…

  • Switching seats

    For a long time now, S has claimed the passenger side seat, and J gets the seat right behind me. This arrangement allowed me to have conversations with S when J wasn’t yet talking, and S and I could make eye contact (or, at least, he could see part of my face while I was…

  • Individual attention

    The anniversary of our “gotcha day” for our boys is just around the corner, and it’s a great time for reflection on parenting. My first time around, as a mom, with one easy-going daughter, I never had to worry about dividing my time between siblings – all my parenting time was hers. Now, with two…

  • Spirit Week

    This week at S’s school is spirit week. Every day the kids are supposed to wear specific clothes, like: pajama day, wear a certain color and Tuesday was fancy clothes day. I loathed spirit week when I was growing up – and i don’t remember having such activities in elementary school. The most we had…

  • Mr Anxiety

    I’m sitting in a small room, watching my anxious 5-yr-old mixing up the batter for Chechebsa, a traditional Ethiopian pancake eaten for breakfast. Yesterday, Dad took it screaming child to participate in his age group’s (the Rabbits) activities, and he got stuck all morning, firmly glued by the hand to our son. This morning, it’s…

  • Car conversations

    We were on our way to the bus pickup point this morning for the boys summer camp. The drive takes about 20 minutes. J: “Is turkey bacon kosher?” Me: “Yes, if the turkey was killed in a kosher manner.” J: “I want to get a peacock and kill it and eat it. Is peacock kosher?”…