Little Yellow Notepad

It’s Erev Shabbos Chol Hamoed, I have a to do list that outnumbers the alphabet, my Housekeeper decided this was a great week to go on vacation (I do not think this was coincidental… I was also tempted to take the week off!) and I’m pausing … not just because I hold the monthly pictures ritual in high priority – but to really acknowledge and take stock of what’s going on around me.

Yes, 6 months is a big deal for the milestone blanket … and yeah I got a little carried away dressing Mushka… but 6 months marks a lot more. 6 months ago today is a day I don’t remember, but all my family and friends do. Third day Chol Hamoed Pesach. The joy of Mushka’s birth followed by the fear and terror that followed it with my medical crisis.

These 6 months have been like nothing else … from being completely immobile to slowly regaining strength, from Trauma ICU to Acute Rehab to home… to a night nanny for Mushka, home health nurse 3x a week for me, dinners delivered for 3 months, being tethered to a wound VAC and then slowly downsizing my household staff and taking my place back …planning from A-Z and then celebrating my son’s Bar Mitzvah just five weeks ago to where I stand today in the kitchen – unpacking my multiple Instacart orders while keeping an eye on the pots on the stove, putting chicken in the oven, cutting vegetables and making cakes and being surrounded by my (overtired!) kids, my husband is out with some of my boys on the Sukkah mobile, bringing the joy of Sukkot to people’s doorstep … and I’m as overwhelmed and joyful and stressed as anyone else running this Tishrei marathon – but here’s where I pause.

Continue reading “Happy 6 months!” →

Full disclosure – it was actually Isru Chag. Since Chol Hamoed Succos was busy with our Sukkah mobile, we planned our Chol Hamoed trip to be delayed. Same planning strategy, same rhythm.

Thursday morning, as Isru Chag dawned, I was right on schedule and got straight to work googling – I knew what type of place I was looking for, something super cool and fun and exhilarating for kids ages 1-16, with more focus on the big kids that it should be up to par. After all, considering that we now had three kids in school a plane ride away, these trips didn’t happen as often.

I found the ideal place within minutes! Rappeling, zip line, rope course. Outdoors, gorgeous weather, it was all perfect! I couldn’t help but feel pleased with my quick work.

I tried to book online but it kept giving me an error, so I called the place. And they told me they were closed until Sunday.

Bummer. Back to google. One place opens at 4, another is closed on Thursdays.

Continue reading “Just another Chol Hamoed Trip…” →

Do you know that moment when you look at your child and you just can’t figure it out. You’re asking for something so simple. All you want to say is:

“”Why can’t you just…?!”

Why can’t you just do your homework and get it over with?!

Why can’t you just finish what’s on your plate?!

Why can’t you just put your shoes where they belong so you can find them in the morning?!

Why can’t you just listen to the teacher and do what you’re supposed to?!

Why can’t you just do what the other kids in your class do and follow the rules?!

Everyone else does it, why can’t you. I have no problem doing this, why can’t you.

Why can’t you just ….

Continue reading “Why can’t you just?!?” →

I’m going through my mound of discharge papers one day a couple weeks ago, and it’s quite a book considering my postpartum complications – and one paper caught my eye. 

Risks to babies of formula feeding include an increased risk of:

And then it goes on to list over a dozen different conditions: Asthma, Allergy, Acute respiratory disease… and the list goes on and on.

As I read, my jaw drops in shock. Am I really seeing correctly?

What in the world is this all about?

Why are they trying to scare me?

“You probably feel like a new person!”

“I’m sure you have a new appreciation for everything!’’

“I bet you wake up in the morning and say Modeh Ani with a whole new meaning!”

These are typical things we say when talking to someone who went through a traumatic life-threatening experience; these are the questions I’ve been asked many times over the past few months.

And the answer is..

Um, well…