Mommy Morah

My little one buggied and cheered through her morning music session. She totally digged the instruments - shakers, triangles, tambourines, you name it. She went through them one by one. Most importantly, she walked across the room to retrieve those items. I find it intriguing to note that only when she really, really, REALLY wants something, when there is an all-important (fill in the blank) then she'll go for it. She hardly notices that she is walking. And that's when she makes her best efforts. Willpower!!! There is nothing that stands in the way of will

Large red flames dance towards the heavens. As they cavort about, I wonder. What is the fire in my life? Where is my passion? Where is my focus? A fire is concentrated light. It is a force to be reckoned with. I want some of that energy in my life! Lag B'omer is a mystical day. A celebration of the passing of the Rashbi. Really? To celebrate death? But the Rashbi is about light, life and whisperings of the soul. The Rashbi helped access those secret whisperings of G-dliness and bring them to the light of day. I need more of that in my life. I need the oil of Torah's inner dimensions to fan my flames and keep me going. I need more Chassidus. The highlight of the day was visiting a real  bonfire. My son expressed concern about fire, so we spoke about good and bad fires all day long. Actually, we've been preparing for this day for months with these sorts of discussions. While frying eggs: "It's fire, Mama!" While lighting Shabbos candles: "Don't...

I walked from the main building to the school's entrance twice today. The first time as a teacher, the second time as a student. Well, to be totally accurate I was chatting with my collegue, but as I was seeking her advice it was more of a mentoring situation. This morning Vicki* brought me to the art room (located near the entrance) to show me her canvas-in-progress. Vicki is a student in my 11th grade Chumash class. This is my third year teaching her, so I already knew that she would have a hard time remaining focused. I also knew that she liked to doodle in her notebooks. Two years ago, I encouraged her to take illustrated notes during my lessons. I just wanted her to have an idea of what was going on in class, really. At the end of the year, Vicki wrote a lovely note thanking me for "encouraging [her] artistic side". When I saw Vicki's name on my class list, I knew what my action plan would be. Vicki would research the details of Noach's Taivah (Noah's...

"Stay focused, Mimies!" What? Did he really say that? I laughed to myself and grabbed a pen to jot down Daniel's latest line for future reference. What a riot! *** When my firstborn was an infant, he loved to eat. He would feed for a full hour until he fell asleep contented in a drunken stupor. His younger sister did not follow his lead. Sure, she liked to eat, but there were too many exciting things going on around her. Foremost amongst the distractions were her older brother's antics. She would turn towards him when she heard the pitter-patter of his little feet, breaking out into a huge grin each time. I was constantly after her to "stay focused!" Seems Daniel picked up the lingo! He continued using the term - usually within context - for several months following. *** Daniel really got me pondering my activities. He would warn me to "stay focused" while I was climbing a chair, reading a book, mixing cake batter, sitting at th...