Revisiting the Misgeret, or Is Preschool Necessary

This post was originally published in 2008, but is still relevant for many parents. Sadly two readers who commented here, Helene and RivkA, passed away within the last few years. It's bound to happen at one time or another when you are out with your toddler. Your neighbor asks you the question … [Read more...]

Toddlers and Weight Gain

Last week I posted about a child put in foster care because the parents refused to follow medical advice to fatten him up with junk food. When experts also failed to increase his weight, the authorities admitted that the parents weren't the problem and the family was reunited. Over the years I've … [Read more...]

Tandem Nursing: Guest Post at Mommy News Blog

I have a guest post up about tandem nursing at the Mommy News Blog. Although my daughter is wearing a kippah in the accompanying picture, it's not meant as any kind of feminist statement. At five years old she no longer wears one. Anyway, now you all know how "radical" I am/was. … [Read more...]

Babies Need Company

The alon Talmei Geulat Am Yisrael always has a column about family life. As usual, this has more to do with psychology than Judaism, but the author of last week's column, Varda Virzvinski, makes some valuable points. She is a member of the organization of Rabbinic Marriage and Family Counselors in … [Read more...]

Bamba not related to mysterious deaths of toddlers

Over the last few weeks, four toddlers have gotten ill and died suddenly of mysterious causes. Two children remain hospitalized; one is recovering and one is still in intensive care. The Health Ministry debated over whether to announce that they are investigating the deaths as they didn't want to … [Read more...]

Trusting our children

One of the most valuable lessons I learned as a mother was about relinquishing control."Training" my children to do things before they were developmentally ready wasted time and emotional energy. How I regret those power struggles.Eventually I realized that there were many things I didn't need to … [Read more...]

A cure for insomnia?

This morning she explained, "That way is a faster way to close my eyes." … [Read more...]

Two children go missing from gan; found safely three hours later

According to the local paper, two children aged 3.5 and 4 disappeared from gan (preschool) without anyone realizing. At around 11 AM, the ganenet noticed that they didn't return to the gan after playtime in the fenced area outside. After a thorough search of the premises failed to locate the … [Read more...]

The Truth about Nursing in the Ezrat Nashim

Which of the following situations is disturbing, distracting, or inappropriate in shul? Cracking open a bag of Bamba for a toddler, who proceeds to distribute the contents around the shul Hansel and Gretel style. Shoving chairs right and left while pushing a monster stroller through the … [Read more...]

Minimizing children’s pain

Treppenwitz posts about the common Hebrew expression used by parents when kids have minor scrapes:"Lo kara kloom," or "It's nothing." Since his blog decided to eat up my comments, I'm responding here."Lo kara kloom" is a way of comforting a child and sending him the messsage that everything is okay. … [Read more...]