Snippets of things (and snips of hair!)

Last week the twins and the Hannah went to Essence, my friend Cherie's salon, to get snipped. This was Hannah's first snippage (not including bangs) and I was convulsed with great fears. But she survived, cuteness intact. Her perfectly round face is now--if this were possible--even rounder; the curve of the hair meets the curve of her cheek too precisely, if anything. Isn't she funny? Here she sits with her Chanukah gift (textured cards from Aunt Violet) and a Lego car which she made all by herself.

After listening to a Kabbalist's shiur on my new iPod (thank you, thank you, dear husband) I have been a better mommy, which, I'm finally convinced, really just means loving your kids more, trying to actively show your love--and correcting with warmth and affection, too. They have responded, and it does help them be their better selves more often. The Shlomo Wolbe-Kelemen-etc. way wins out over the make-'em-mind school of childrearing, after all. And I guess the modern thinking on the subject (Positive Parenting, Unconditional Parenting, et al.) is the same. I'm happy, and there is much more happy energy and hugging in my house now; I see the difference in Ezra, especially. And Hannah's mini-mutinies are so easy to deal with now, as are Naomi's screechy meltdowns. Nome actually says, now, "Mah-meeeee! It's just that I miss you soooooooo much when I'm at school, and school is soooooooooo hard and soooooooooo long! Waaaaa-aaaaaaah! Boooo hooooo hooooo!" and she gets long, drawn-out hugs.... 

Hannah's usual first words, as soon as I come in to her room, are "Modeh Ani, Mommy!" and then more orders: "Negelvaser!" Even if I forget, she doesn't. And she won't eat without a bracha--not only that, but she reminds me when she's done: "Mommy, let's say Borei Nefashos!" which, to be frank, I usually forget. And she, without being asked, unloads the dishwasher daily, now. She tells me, "Mommy, I put away the sharps knifeses." She knows she is good, and she loves to be good. Hooray! Could I possibly be any luckier?

The twins, the twins. They have been naughty. Many things have gone missing recently, and we finally found their hiding place. There is a grate covering the empty space behind the furnace, and they have been pulling away one corner of it and slipping things in. Ezra got to unscrew the grate with Daddy's tools, and we found: 2 DVDs: Ratatouille!!! (missing for weeks, and a library dvd) and Winnie the Pooh, 2 checkers from Connect 4 (yay!), Sefer HaKriah Hashalem (phew!), 1 tube hydrocortisone, 1 pair broken sunglasses, 4 of Hannah's cards, and very many and great dust bunnies. Things I found in the toilet yesterday: 1 almost-full package of Q-tips (oh well), and 2 porcelain chopstick-rests (huh?). 

Today, today, today was also the day Yasha climbed out of his crib and landed painfully and cried (I did not witness it, but came running at the sound of the thud). I hate to admit it, but I'm glad he didn't land smoothly. I hope it will deter him from trying again right away.

And yesterday, yesterday was the day they first brushed their teeth--we've been delinquent. Dad is the son of a dentist, and his own kids have never been to one... and the oldest is seven! Ahhhh! My fault!

(post naomi brushing yasha)