Mishloach Manot, or, they’re really just not that into us

For the first four years of Ella’s life, we delivered many mishloach manot baskets, but did not receive a single one. We don’t live in a very observant community, and many of our friends are either not Jewish or non-practicing (or rely on me for all of their Jewish practice.) It didn’t really bother me, [...]

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A Freilichen Purim

Ella, dressed as “Esther, but not Queen Esther.” Zoe is Princess Isabella, a character in a computer game she plays on line when I’m ignoring her.

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The Birds, the Bees, and the Incredibles

Overheard in play room Zoe: I’m having a baby, I’m having a baby! Ella: Quick, get some scissors! Me: You know, a mommy doesn’t usually need to get cut open to have a baby. The baby comes out the vagina. Ella: But how does it fit? Me: It stretches, and stretches, and stretches, until the [...]

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Scenes from the megilla

Courtesty of Ella, age 6.

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Could these be any cuter?

My four year old, Zoe, invented these bite-size hamentashen in our marathon baking session with bubbe. Aren’t they adorable?That’s a nickel in the middle, for perspective. With all the 100 calorie packaged snacks on the market, I think we could be on to something here. (We used this recipe, of course.)

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V’nahafoch hu

A theme of Purim is v’nahafoch hu, a celebration of things getting turned upside down. Haman builds gallows for Mordechai, and is hung on those same gallows. Haman plans a fantastic reward for himself, and instead has to bestow this reward on Mordechai. There’s a less celebrated version of  v’nahafoch hu, as well. We buy bags [...]

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Telling it like it is…

Recently Ella has begun creating her own megillah, a telling of the book of Esther, which she is hanging on the walls of her and her sister’s bedroom. Consequently, she’s been trying to clarify a lot of details of the story and asking me a lot of questions. And some of these questions are hard [...]

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What’s even *fancier* than Valentine’s Day?

A few years ago, my daughters went to a Valentine making workshop at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. This is a gem of a museum, and the program was wonderful (my lack of enthusiasm for Valentine’s Day notwithstanding.) But while I sat there watching my girls potchke with collage materials for over [...]

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Looking for fans….

In the hopes of spreading the word about my blog, I’ve created a facebook group. If you’re on facebook, will you become a fan of Homeshuling?

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Why I don’t celebrate Valentine’s Day

I’m a holiday kind of gal. I really enjoy excuses to celebrate special days, especially when the celebrations involve preparing food. But Valentine’s Day? I’m just not that into it. There been some shakla v’tarya amongst the Jewish mommy bloggers about whether it’s appropriate for Jewish families to celebrate “St. Valentine’s Day.” I’m not a [...]

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