So, the kids have been sick. The husband has been sick, making him child #3 (no offense at all to you men out there, but um, they're kind of babies when they find anything wrong with them). And it's cold as anything here! Okay, not as cold as Montana, but at least they have nice scenery to look at as they freeze!

I'm hoping it snows this week. At least I would be okay with it being cold here if there was some snow to go with it.

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My husband and I have been thinking - mostly separately, but occasionally we talk about what to do if adopting Adam falls through. (Though it is actually incorrect to say that the adoption would "fall through" considering he is not... more

Although many - if not most of us - are aware of the traditional Passover seder, the concept of a seder for other holidays is relatively new. Perhaps because the seder works so well that over the years new customs have developed which have included seders for other holidays. The word "seder" means order, and while there is a standard seder as well as a standard text that is used for the Passover holiday, the seders that have evolved for other holidays are not carved in stone, not obligatory, and quite easily tailored to your individual situation. I found... more

I came across this article for Tu B'Shvat at the Jerusalem Post. It has good advice for the holiday and general common sense as well. Excerpts below, full article can be found here.

With Tu Bishvat around the corner, parents are advised not to give nuts or seeds, both traditional holiday foods and both of which pose a choking hazard, to children under five. With an undeveloped swallowing reflex, small bits of hard foods can slip into the trachea instead of the esophagus, says Dr. Oded Poznanski, a senior emergency department physician... more

I'm one of those people who could never move to California (no offense to y'all out there!) because I'd miss the changing of the seasons too much. I love all the seasons, and I especially love the feeling in the air that the weather is changing. I like spring because I'm an avid gardener, and I almost feel like I have all this pent-up energy just waiting for the ground to thaw. I like the feeling of renewal and second chances. I like summer for it's carefree feeling, and being able to spend most of my time out of doors. Fall is breathtaking... more

Tu B'Shvat is the next holiday coming up - it begins at sundown on February 2nd and ends at nightfall on February 3rd. Tu B'Shvat literally means the 15th day of the month of Shvat, and is known as the new year for the trees, or sometimes the "Jewish Arbor Day," though I don't personally care for that term.

From Judaism 101:

Tu B'Shevat is the new year for the purpose of calculating the age of trees for tithing. See Lev. 19:23-25, which states that fruit from trees may not be... more

Continued from this post here.

What do we tell Anna? Our daughter who came through a similar process of being in foster care, then placed with us for adoption, then adopted. When we got back from our trip to Israel over the summer, we told Anna that we would be looking for another baby to adopt, (she had been asking for a little brother or sister for months) and Adam came to us shortly thereafter.

What do we tell Anna? All along, I've prepared myself for the possibility that he may not stay, and I've tried to bring it up to Anna as well. I've said things like, "Well, right now Adam... more

Continued from here.

Adam, our foster baby, has been with us since mid-September. Actually since right before the Jewish new Year. We were told from when he was placed with us that they were planning to process his case for adoption, that there was no real chance of him going back to his biological family. There were possibly a relative or two that was looking for custody, but it wasn't going to be a suitable situation.

Over the last few months, I've heard drips of information come in regarding the details of the case - one of the hazards of going through the state foster care system.... more

There's a balance between telling the whole truth, sugar coating the truth, telling something that's not quite the truth, and resorting to the phrase I have vowed not to use, "Ask me when you're older." I've so far managed to keep that vow.

Anna is nearing four years old. She is black, adopted and Jewish. She spent time in foster care before coming to our home. She is growing up with babies and children coming in and out of her life and while struggling to make sense of that is also struggling to make sense of her own truth. How much and what to tell, and when, is something that I deal with on a daily bass.

Anna is learning about the birds and the bees on an almost four year... more

Something that came across my desk - if you'll be in the New Jersey area, this looks like a good event to attend. More information at the Rutgers website.

The Allen and Joan Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life invites you to:

The Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights A symposium addressing contemporary issues of genocide and human rights in Rwanda, Armenia and Darfur

Panelists Manus I. Midlarsky, Rutgers University Eric Weitz, University of Minnesota Helen Fein, Institute for the Study of Genocide, John Jay College of Criminal... more

Journeywoman has been talking about that recent case on the news where a family was asked to leave a flight because their three year old wouldn't sit in her seat for takeoff. Today, she has a great post about when to bend, and her own story of enforcing what she felt was the correct thing to do in a situation. After I posted a comment to her site today, I realized how lengthy it was (sorry! that's kinda when someone says, get your own blog!, right?) and since she brings up a great topic, I'm posting my comment here. At what point do you as parents bend the rules, or acquiesce... more