Typhoid Pie and Girl Bear
Some view Kol Nidre as a solemn night for reflection and devotion. I personally see it as a night out away from the kids. Whoo hooo! Atonement time!
We survived the holidays intact. Adam didn't get overly grumpy on Yom Kippur. The kids didn't break anything when we had our break fast at the friends' of my parents. And when I ran my half marathon the next day, I not only broke two hours (my been-trying-to-reach-for-many-years-now goal), but I shattered my previous record. (Old record 2:01; new record 1:52:14.) I have my running partner to thank--she really kept me going when I said, "I don't know if I can maintain this pace," and she said, "Of course you can!" At the end, her husband said, "Wow, how much faster could you have gone if you hadn't fasted?" but I told him I opted to view it as I was that much faster because I was so much lighter, running without my sins (although truth be told, if you count malicious thoughts, raised voices to children, and idle gossip as sins, I definitely wasn't running sin-free. After all, it had been well over 12 hours since the end of Yom Kippur).
I had thought we'd be back to the daily grind--Pie started preschool "full time" (as in three hours a day three days a week) this week. So I loaded up my work assignments and hungrily looked forward to diving in. But wait! No! Nothing ever goes as planned. And today, on Pie's second day of school... she is forced to call in sick. She's got a nice, oozy, puffy eye. Which wouldn't be so bad except that school is closed both Thursday and Friday for Sukkot and also next Thursday and Friday for Shemini Atzeret and Simhat Torah (yes they are off for a holiday that 99.9% of Jews don't know about, never mind all the goyim out there. I myself hadn't even heard of Shemini Atzeret until I saw it was a "no school" day on the calendar and quickly took pains to learn what it was. Frankly, it seems a little dubious to me). And the Monday after? Why Columbus Day, of course. Damn that discovering of America! I took her to the doctor to find out if it was conjunctivitis or just a cold and it turns out, they're one and the same (am I the only one who didn't know that?).
Doctor said she's fine for playdates and the playground, but no school is going to take her. It's just a cold and the stuff that normally oozes out of the nose is now oozing out of her eye. Besides she was unhappy and clingy--she'd been up most of last night. Her eye was gross enough that I was a little embarrassed to take her into public. I put her cool sunglasses on so everyone just thought she was a little hipster instead of Typhoid Pie.
Speaking of school, it's been pretty hit or miss for Doodles. He clearly loves school, but is having problems again with drop off. We talked about it and he simply said, "I miss you when you're not there," which of course about broke my heart. Until we decided on my replacement. Doodles, his teacher, and I were brainstorming what we could do to make Doodles feel better at school when I suggested bringing something in from home. Doodles perked up and said, "Girl Bear!" This was acceptable to all, so now Doodles goes to school with Girl Bear. I've been replaced by Girl Bear. Girl Bear is his mother substitute. And what is my issue with that? Girl Bear is a plastic honey jar. I've been replaced by an empty jar. Made of plastic. Empty. Jar. Sigh. Anyway, I had the idea of filling it up with kisses in the morning so he can shake kisses out as he needs them. It's working with mixed results, but there's been no out and out wailing, grabbing on to me as I leave, so it's an improvement.
I'm sure there's more to tell you guys, but I'll be honest: it's been a day and I'd much rather have another glass of wine than sit at my computer. So, instead, I'll share with you what my friend Bettina shared with me:
Till next week...l'chaim!
We survived the holidays intact. Adam didn't get overly grumpy on Yom Kippur. The kids didn't break anything when we had our break fast at the friends' of my parents. And when I ran my half marathon the next day, I not only broke two hours (my been-trying-to-reach-for-many-years-now goal), but I shattered my previous record. (Old record 2:01; new record 1:52:14.) I have my running partner to thank--she really kept me going when I said, "I don't know if I can maintain this pace," and she said, "Of course you can!" At the end, her husband said, "Wow, how much faster could you have gone if you hadn't fasted?" but I told him I opted to view it as I was that much faster because I was so much lighter, running without my sins (although truth be told, if you count malicious thoughts, raised voices to children, and idle gossip as sins, I definitely wasn't running sin-free. After all, it had been well over 12 hours since the end of Yom Kippur).
I had thought we'd be back to the daily grind--Pie started preschool "full time" (as in three hours a day three days a week) this week. So I loaded up my work assignments and hungrily looked forward to diving in. But wait! No! Nothing ever goes as planned. And today, on Pie's second day of school... she is forced to call in sick. She's got a nice, oozy, puffy eye. Which wouldn't be so bad except that school is closed both Thursday and Friday for Sukkot and also next Thursday and Friday for Shemini Atzeret and Simhat Torah (yes they are off for a holiday that 99.9% of Jews don't know about, never mind all the goyim out there. I myself hadn't even heard of Shemini Atzeret until I saw it was a "no school" day on the calendar and quickly took pains to learn what it was. Frankly, it seems a little dubious to me). And the Monday after? Why Columbus Day, of course. Damn that discovering of America! I took her to the doctor to find out if it was conjunctivitis or just a cold and it turns out, they're one and the same (am I the only one who didn't know that?).
Doctor said she's fine for playdates and the playground, but no school is going to take her. It's just a cold and the stuff that normally oozes out of the nose is now oozing out of her eye. Besides she was unhappy and clingy--she'd been up most of last night. Her eye was gross enough that I was a little embarrassed to take her into public. I put her cool sunglasses on so everyone just thought she was a little hipster instead of Typhoid Pie.
Speaking of school, it's been pretty hit or miss for Doodles. He clearly loves school, but is having problems again with drop off. We talked about it and he simply said, "I miss you when you're not there," which of course about broke my heart. Until we decided on my replacement. Doodles, his teacher, and I were brainstorming what we could do to make Doodles feel better at school when I suggested bringing something in from home. Doodles perked up and said, "Girl Bear!" This was acceptable to all, so now Doodles goes to school with Girl Bear. I've been replaced by Girl Bear. Girl Bear is his mother substitute. And what is my issue with that? Girl Bear is a plastic honey jar. I've been replaced by an empty jar. Made of plastic. Empty. Jar. Sigh. Anyway, I had the idea of filling it up with kisses in the morning so he can shake kisses out as he needs them. It's working with mixed results, but there's been no out and out wailing, grabbing on to me as I leave, so it's an improvement.
I'm sure there's more to tell you guys, but I'll be honest: it's been a day and I'd much rather have another glass of wine than sit at my computer. So, instead, I'll share with you what my friend Bettina shared with me:
Till next week...l'chaim!
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