While their friends were counting down the days until their empty nest, Melissa Fay Greene and her husband Don Samuel realized they didn't feel "done" with having children. They talked about another, but at 42 Melissa reluctantly decided that she was too old. After a surprise pregnancy and … [Read more...]
Thinking of Having Another Baby?
Ima2Seven has a post up about deciding whether or not to have more children. I know a few women who have as many as they can, letting their fertility fade naturally as they get older. Here's what Ima has to say about being a mother of seven: I tell them that it is crazy, and fun, and joyous and … [Read more...]
Water Tax Begins July 1
It took long enough, but Israel is taking steps to combat the severe water shortage by imposing a tax on excess usage. According to Ynet, the tax goes into effect on July 1. Update: The law hasn't been passed, and there is a question about whether the tax will be retroactive. A family of four … [Read more...]
Exclusive Interview with a Former Kannai, Part II: The Community
This is Part II of an interview with Rabbi Moshe Yossef, a former kannai who lived in the anti-Zionist community in Jerusalem for many years. In Part I, he tells of his personal experiences. Below he responds to questions about the kannai community. How do people survive economically without … [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...]
Close Spacing II: Fertility and Parenting Styles
Part 1: When Does Chinuch Begin? There is a direct connection between the type of parenting and child spacing. When the baby stays with his mother day and night, nurses on cue without bottles and pacifiers, starts solids gradually at about six months, and spends a good deal of his time either … [Read more...]
Child Spacing, Part 1: When Does Chinuch Begin?
I believe that mothers need at least a year, if not two, between pregnancies to recover from birth. Both the toddler and baby are also shortchanged with closer spacing. Each family is different and with a lot of help and support, along with an understanding of attachment and infant development, it's … [Read more...]
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