Yesterday, many, many Jews from the Greater Seattle area (of all stripes, always
heart-warming) willingly
entered the tiny JCC gym and subjected themselves to 3 hours of airless-ness and din--all because we love our children. It was, of course, a Purim Carnival!
Ez and Josh went ahead, with Josh's family, and Noma and I went later, after the babysitter's arrival. She saw her princess friend from school, who held out her arms in a nice-kind-of-popular Junior H.S. girl way, and she and Nomi happily hugged. The princess's favor bestowed, she vanished, and Nome proceeded to request the exact same face paint as the princess sported--flower on one cheek, heart on the other. (We actually had to track down the princess to make sure we got the colors right.)
I had an absolutely wonderful time admiring my daughter among the hordes of children. It is delightful to watch your children (being good, of course) in a crowd, to pick them out and want to kidnap them, as if they weren't already yours! She seemed simultaneously older and younger, unselfconsciously doing little kid things (moon bounces, etc.) and being lovely and awkward. Lucky for her, she got to have (kosher) fresh, warm, cotton candy, which mommy meekly tasted (pretending not to want my own).
Ez returned from his movie (he and Josh left early to see Horton Hears a Hoo) tired and therefore ready for a fight, and began showing off and trying to make Naomi jealous. I tried to break it up by having each of us say something that we loved about each other. Some funny results: Ez: I love Hannah because she loves bubbles and so do I. Noma: I love (Jacob, Saul, Hannah) because I love him (her) and (s)he's cute (3x). Ez: I love you, Mom, because last week you had an ouchy hand (but I don't anymore! so now you don't love me?) And I love Dad because he reads me "Character Boy" (his term for the Lord of the Rings series). It was fun for me to say I loved Noma because she was sweet and helpful and humble about it, and Ez because he had lots of energy and ideas and was my bachor (though I was quick to add that Naomi was my sweet bachora), and Hannah because she had nice manners (didactic mommy, I know!) and said Tank you at the Shabbos table thus inspiring her elder sibs to copy, and Dad because he took care of us (Ez said: Yeah! that's why!)... and the deedees because they were the deedees. Duh!
I had to feed them a reason for loving each other, so I exclaimed with great conviction: Kids! You love each other because... you were babies together!
Is that a good reason, or what?? I'm still wondering.
No comments:
Post a Comment