Laundry and Cooking Tips for Large Families

Emunah/Faith has seven children. And she doesn't know how mothers with 12 manage. She is looking for laundry and cooking tips: Laundry (quantity) Main meals (specifically prep and clean up) They both take up a lot of my time for my family of 9, and my kids do help. I wonder how a family, with say … [Read more...]

Are Mature Religious Women Leaving the Fold?

Elana Sztokman's response to Yael Mishali contains a beautiful description of motherhood. My five year old daughter, Meital, recently began singing “A Pirate King” from The Pirates of Penzance. She learned it from a book – well, actually, she learned it from me. We were doing some bedtime reading … [Read more...]

Frugal Strategies for Young Families that Pay Off as Your Children Grow

As my family grew from a small to a large one with six children, I developed efficient ways to save money. Items that are small expenses with two small children become big ones as the family grows. Below I present ten money-stretching strategies for young couples with a growing family. It takes … [Read more...]

Dr. Hanna Katan: Large Families,Yes. Demanding Careers for Mothers, No.

Ynet interviews Dr. Hanna Katan, religious Zionist mother of thirteen and gynecologist with a sub-specialty in fertility. Katan considers a large family to be the ideal and has served on a committe to encourage secular mothers to have more babies. Her own mother raised eight children and served as a … [Read more...]

How Do Parents of Large Families Manage? Meet Tal and Talia

On Orthonomics a guest post about Orthodox homeschooling generated the following comment by "l": One problem that parents encounter is that in families where there are both older and very young children, the toddlers and infants often require many hours a day of the parents' care and leave little … [Read more...]

Adventures in International Travel — Packing Light

Robin, this is for you. In my previous post I mentioned having brought one suitcase for our two-week trip to New York. It weighed 21 kg (about 45 lbs) and contained everything for the four of us, in addition to our hand luggage (also as light as possible).I knew I would be staying at my sister's and … [Read more...]

Layered Beit Shemesh mother of 12 arrested for severe child abuse

According to news reports, a mother of twelve from Beit Shemesh was arrested for severely abusing her children, who were having incestuous relationships with one another in the home. The woman was covered in several layers of clothing and initially refused to reveal her face to the judge.Trilcat … [Read more...]

Fitting Housework into Life

When I had only two children, born eighteen months apart, I didn't spend a lot of time on housework. My oldest enjoyed scattering toys around the house, crumpling any paper he could find, and biting his baby brother when I got distracted for a moment. My husband and I developed a system to manage … [Read more...]

A Cooking Legacy

While in college, my friend Tzippy and her family generously hosted me for many a Shabbat and Yom Tov. Tzippy's mother didn't expect her to help in the kitchen; she told her that she would have plenty of time later, and now she should study and have fun. The mother was right; Tzippy did get married … [Read more...]

My kids and cooperation

Sephardi Lady asked me here whether I overestimate or underestimate the amount of help my kids can give. It seems that they always have plenty of time to read, go on the computer and play with friends, and study occasionally, so I guess they are not overworked. I suspect they would not agree! Of … [Read more...]