creative jewish mom

Lessons Learned In Revisiting My Childhood Stomping Grounds with My Own Kids!

I am the person that I am today as a result of many life experiences— and especially those which occurred before the age of 12 or so (as I've started to realize lately!) So I found it particularly interesting to visit some of the places we used to frequent when I was a child, but with my children. Their childhood in Israel has certainly been quite different than mine was in Northern California, but I'm happy to say that they loved all the same things I did! Here's a little peek, which may be helpful to some of my readers (nearly 25% who live in California!) and hopefully an interesting (and possibly humorous) break from crafting for the rest of you?

First stop is The Little Farm in Tilden Regional Park, still sweet and well maintained. A nice introduction to real live farm animals. Just make sure to go in the morning or early afternoon, as the animals are put to bed very early. Lesson: If going to bed early is good for farm animals, it's probably good for our kids too!

At The Little Farm your children can hone their goat feeding skills with celery and lettuce (only) that you bring from home. Very good skills to have as an adult as apparently this left a big impression on one of my brothers and he now owns some goats (and now my children and I want some too, yikes!) Lesson: If you don't want your kids to own farm animals when they grow up, so don't expose them to the joys of goat feeding.

After you've had your fill of farm animals, so why not take a fairly short nature hike to Jewel Lake, just down the road from The Little Farm. While you can walk down the road to the lake with a stroller, the more scenic hike around the lake is great for little kids, but not stroller friendly. I don't think I ever really knew why this little lake was called Jewel Lake until we paused here— look at those amazing reflections! My kids almost didn't understand what they were seeing it was so beautiful. I remember saying "doesn't it look just like a painting? Lesson: Take the time to point out to your children how nature often reflects art!

The next logical stop might be a trip to the Tilden Park Historical Merry Go Round. I grew up hearing the faint music from this merry go round on clear summer days.....The merry go round was built in 1911, and all the animals are original and restored beautifully. There's a fantastic selection of horses, a zebra, a frog, a dog, a lion, a stork and more. I do miss the original organ which has sadly been replaced by taped music, nonetheless, it's still wonderful. And yes, I don't usually show photos of my kids, but this one of my daughter was taken 6 years ago at the merry go round, and I just couldn't resist. Lesson: Teach your kids that if they take care of something it will last—these animals are nearly 100 years old, and because they were treasured, and well cared for, we can still enjoy them today!  And just in case you hadn't thought of this, if you're going to treat your kids to more than one ride (and why not?) have them take a break between rides and just enjoy watching the merry go round while trying to decide which animal they'd like to ride next.

Now if live animals are more interesting to your kids than wooden ones, or if you happen to have another day in Berkeley,  you might want to consider a visit to the Lawrence Hall of Science (very near one end of the sprawling Tilden Park) located on the UC Berkeley Campus. The museum and education center has a planetarium and all sorts of interesting things to look at, but we got caught up in the petting lab, so we really didn't get to see too much else! But that's okay, since holding a spotted gecko, an unusual Iguana and a Mexican garter (?) snake, and petting a tarantula and cuddling a dwarf rabbit was a great experience. I'm so proud of my kids for not being afraid or squeemish! Lesson: If you plan to take your kids to the Lawrence Hall of Science, first raise them in the country side so they won't be afraid to touch the animals!

When they kick you out of the museum at closing time (5pm, too early for us!) your kids can have fun climbing on the giant DNA model/play structure in front. There's also a nice fountain and a breathtaking view of the city of Berkeley and the San Francisco Bay. If you sit for a while you may witness the interesting phenomena of watching "the fog roll in" until there's no view left to see! Lesson: Bone up on your own basic science knowledge before taking your kids to a science museum. That way when they ask you "What's DNA?" you may have a chance at explaining it to them!

The Making Of An Artist: An Eight Year Old's First Painting!

Isn't this painting wonderful? Yes, I may be biased as the artist's mother, but I thought I'd share it with you as inspiration for getting an early start on your own child's art education! I recently found a wonderful art teacher that will be able to give my daughter a nice introduction to the true art of painting, and this is her first work, in just two lessons!

The inspiration was Van Gough's sunflowers, and I just love the fact that my daughter's teacher, Meira, isn't telling her what to paint but rather showing her how to use the paint. That is exactly the kind of art training I would recommend for any child to help develop their creative potential as well as a love for the creative process!

Holocaust Memorial Day: Remembering the Unspeakable.

photo courtesy of The United States Holocaust Museum, www.ushmm.org

Today I won't be posting any craft projects, because I've got something much more important on my mind, and weighing heavily upon my heart. Today is Holocaust Memorial day in Israel, and around the world.

In Israel a siren is sounded and the entire country pauses for one minute and stands in memory of the 6 million who were tragically taken from this world. Traffic stops on freeways, and on busy city streets cars come to a stop and most drivers get out of their cars to stand. It is a truly moving sight and though I did not witness it today, it really brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it.

I won't go into the details of the Holocaust, as I'm quite sure most of you are familiar with them, but if you'd like to read more, especially moving stories from survivors, there are many websites dedicated to the topic. If you are unaware of the gruesome details or need something visual to connect to the horrific nature of the event, just search for Holocaust images on google, and there's more than enough shocking photographs to provoke some introspection.

And certainly we owe it the innocent people who were brutally murdered to speak about this tragedy with our children who are old enough to understand. And it is up to all of us to take responsibility within our families and communities to ensure that we do not allow evil of any kind to prevail.

Vegetable Platters For Kids: It's All In The Presentation!

If you love vegetables, then eventually your kids will too (most of them anyway!) Of course there are a few tricks that you might want to try if you're on a campaign for not only healthy eating, but a love for healthy eating! (And if you don't love vegetables, well then just pretend that you do, for your kid's sake!)

• Treat vegetables like they are something special (they are!) and serve them in an eye-catching way. Who wouldn't want to get their hands on this platter? My kids were jumping up and down! (Okay I realize that they are not normal in their love for vegetables, but maybe it means I'm doing the right thing? How many kids do you know that will devour sliced radish? The other white vegetable is kohlrabi, wonderfully crisp and delicious.)
• Serve fresh vegetables at every meal so they become a natural part of everyday eating.
• Enlist your husband's help and convince him to ooh and aah over the vegetables and take the majority for himself, all the while smacking his lips with no desire to share. (Believe me, this one works really well, you should see the types of vegetables my kids eat because my husband loves them, like raw artichoke! Who ever heard of that!)
• Don't ever force a kid to eat his vegetables, in fact don't mention anything, just go about your business and make sure you are eating your vegetables!
• Consider growing some of your own vegetables
• Take kids to the farmer's market (or even a well stocked grocery store) and talk about all the amazing kinds of vegetables that exist, their colors, shapes, etc.
• Don't give up, ever! Just keep on serving those vegetables and follow this blog for more helpful hints down the road.

And in case you noticed, don't bandanas make the cutest little table cloths? For some more bandana ideas check out my post from last summer here.  Wishing you much success in all your endeavors, especially the vegetable ones!

Today Is Yom Kippur.

Today is Yom Kippur, and though this post appears, I am not at the computer today. I am observing one of the most  important days on the Jewish calender!

May you and your family be blessed with a Gmar Chatima Tova!  Written and sealed in the book of life for a year of good health, a positive outlook, gratefulness, boundless joy and of course, creative fulfillment!

I look forward to sharing with you in the coming year, and wish each and every one of you the very best!

Draw A Cartoon Faced Cup And You Just Might Save The Day!

Today the little ones started to fight over a special plastic plate with a cute picture on it. There were raised voices (them) and tears (them) and Mom decided to step in before the situation got out of hand. I asked the older little one to give in to the younger one, and I promised that we'd buy some new plastic plates with cute pictures. He somehow understood that I said I'd make him a plate (I guess that sounds more likely around here!) and started calling to me in another room, "where's my plate?"

No disposable plates were to be found, so I whipped out a permanent marker and a disposable cup in order to appease him. My solution was appreciated by the littlest one, and it did at least break the tension. And it gave me an almost instant project to share with you!

Cups decorated with doodles or letters or just about anything would be cute anytime, at a get together for kids, at a birthday party, or even to express your recognition of a special accomplishment or occasion.
A table filled with cups proclaiming Congratulations,Well Done!, Mazal Tov! would be truly touching!

Note: For those of you who just might be smirking over the fact that I'm promoting the use of plastic disposable cups, I'd like to say that we are in the middle of a big drought here in Israel so this may be the lesser of two evils! And next time I'll try to buy the plastic biodegradable cups even though they cost more, I promise.)

The Fruit Really Doesn't Fall Far From The Tree (Vine)!

If any of you out there are inspired to start your own blog after having seen mine, my advice to you is don't do it! Keep on living your normal life! Why you ask? Well, when you become a blogger, or at least a dedicated one like me, who only posts original material, suddenly everything in life can be sorted into two piles: 1.) good material for the blog and   2.) I don't think I'll share that with the world. Gone are the good old days of just looking at things for what they are! Alack, alas. Now please don't think I'm complaining, I'm loving every minute of this opportunity to connect with all the amazing people out there in the big, wide, world. Just keep in mind, going global has its price!

That being said, Fridays are very busy around here, and I'm in need of a quick something to post.Yesterday as I was outside watering my container garden my 5 1/2 year old son was returning from a trip to deposit plastic bottles in the nearby recycling cage. As he came up the stairs, suddenly I heard his sweet little voice say very enthusiastically, "Mommy, look what I found!" I'm quite sure my first reaction was a smile together that proud feeling you get when your children repeat back to you things you've taught them.But my second and immediate reaction was, great, thanks for giving me some material for the blog tomorrow!

What did he find that was so interesting? Some baby grapes in the process of maturing on the vine!

It gives me a great feeling of satisfaction to see that my son is starting to share my love for all the wonders of nature. What can I learn from this? When we take time to talk to our children, to share with them our joys as well as sorrows it in turn helps them develop into communicative individuals. When we take the time to teach them about everything we see around us, it helps them to become appreciative and conscientious. Isn't that what you would wish for your own sweet souls? So start talking.

Have a great weekend and a peaceful Shabbat.

Remembering Our Holy Temple in Jerusalem

Today is the 17th of Tammuz, a solemn fast day on the Jewish calender, so it just seems inappropriate to post a joyful craft project! I had wanted to do a project with my kids about the Bais HaMikdash (Holy Temple) but being normal children, they resisted. Another day!  Instead I've found a few old photographs of the Kotel (Wailing Wall) to hopefully inspire some heartfelt prayer from those of you who are so inclined, or know you should be!  And show these to your children if you can, or print them out and have a discussion about the importance of the day!

The Kotel (Wailing Wall) in Jerusalem, 1906

The Kotel (Wailing Wall) in Jerusalem, 1912

To those of you who are fasting, may you have an easy fast, and may we all merit to see the rebuilding of the Bais HaMikdash speedily in our days! Amen.

A Cure For Your Child's Pacifier Obsession?

DISCLAIMER: The following technique may or may not be appropriate for your child! It has not been approved by any psychologist as a good solution for your child's obsession with pacifiers. My intention here is to share with you a funny story that ended well for my daughter, but I am in no way advocating causing trauma to your child! Please take the following with a grain of salt:

My daughter was about to turn four. She had an intense obsession with pacifiers.She would go to sleep with no less than three on a chain, and in her sleep she would not only rotate the pacifier in her mouth, she would also change pacifiers!  Out of concern mostly for her teeth, we decided enough was enough!

My husband heard a Rav (don't know who) speaking about parenting issues on the radio and heard about this course of action: take all the pacifiers (or bottles) in the house, put them in a plastic bag and hang them on a tree. Tell the child that the tree will give them a present for being so brave and giving up their pacifier. Go back in the house, have someone take down the bag and replace it with a large prize, something they've really wanted, like for example a bicycle. That's it!

I must admit, when I heard this story I thought "that's crazy!" but decided to go along with my husband and give it a try. In the meantime my husband went to the store and bought my daughter a shiny new red bike, and I started to prepare her with the idea: if we give the tree all the pacifiers it  will give her a big present in return!  She agreed to give it a try and together we searched he whole house high and low for all the pacifiers. We made a big deal out of this whole process and I photographed the whole thing.

Later on my daughter watched as we pulled a shiny new bike out of the tree and from that day on she was pacifier free. We were very lucky, she took it all in stride and didn't even cry for a pacifier or regret that she'd given them up. She said the first night was a little hard but after that she forgot all about her trusted companions!

Today just three years later we laugh about that fateful day, and I can only hope that all the milestones in her life should pass with such ease!

Sometimes It's The Small Things That Count

On our recent trip to Jerusalem we went into a Judaica store to buy a tehillim for my 7 year old daughter.
She is just starting to read tehillim and I wanted to buy her something of her very own to honor this wonderful milestone. Of course anyone with small children can imagine what insued deep in the caverns of this large store. Call me brave or even slightly insane, but I do not shy away from taking my children shopping. As difficult as it may be, I really think from around the age of three children can start to understand the notion of conscientious consumerism and the value of the good old shekel.

After way too much time with the "mommy buy this" and mommy saying "please don't touch" I decided that what we really needed was a tiny model of the Bais HaMikdash. At first 14 shekels seemed a bit steep, but then I snapped to and realized that 14 shekels was a total steal for something that would help us (or hopefully at least me) remember our Holy Temple everyday and long for her to be rebuilt speedily in our days.

I told the kids that we would buy one for everyone and put it next to my Shabbos candles, for the whole family to enjoy.  They agreed and we magically escaped from the store with one book of tehillim and one small model of the Beis HaMikdash.

Now the Beis HaMikdash sits next to my Shabbos candles and I can't stop thinking about what a great purchase this was. Tonight when I light my Shabbos candles I'll be sure to make my usual requests and won't forget to add something that admittedly isn't in the forefront of my mind enough, please bring us back our Holy Temple!

Maybe this was my reward for fearlessly entering a store full of fragile items with three small children, and maintaining my composure. If so, thanks!

And in case you are wondering, my Shabbos candlesticks are a collection of old brass candlesticks that were passed down to me from my grandmother and my husband's grandmother. And yes they look much lovlier when polished, but who has time for that when you're trying to get a new blog up and running?