Day One: Ever since Raphaela stayed awake through all of the seder, her sleep patterns have become erratic at best, and she refuses to nap during the day. After spending the morning at the garage getting the car fixed, and after a messy lunch, we went to the Botanical Gardens followed by the park. When she fell asleep on the swings, I took her home for the nap that should have taken place two hours earlier; better late than never.
The onslaught of families during Chol Hamoed constantly amazes me, the parks and sidewalks become so congested that you can barely push a stroller. I also feel great sadness when I observe poor parenting skills and the devastation these undisciplined children cause to the public areas in Jerusalem. The Municipality will surely have much repair and clean-up work, after the holiday ends and the younger population returns to Gan and school.
Day Two: Spent the early part of the morning rearranging furniture, which I tend to do when I am restless, and as my grandmother would say, "Trying to make a dollar out of 99 cents." I can't wait to start apartment hunting once Chag ends.
It became obvious very quickly that the day would not give play-outside sunny weather, and that my plans for an early morning at the zoo fell through. Bummer. I learned that there is only so much you can do with a one and half year old inside the house, including various meals but no television, before you force your child and yourself to take a nap. We ventured outside for a short field-trip to the supermarket, to stock up on yogurts and fruits and vegetables; food disappears so much quicker on Pessach.
Day Three: Thankfully, Raphaela's pool scheduled extra swim lessons during this week, I enjoyed getting out of the house in the morning and Raphaela as usual enjoyed the water. As soon as we arrived home, the rain-hail-sunshine-rain cycle began, and thus we spent another afternoon at home, which gave me the opportunity to transition from chag to Shabbat ie more cooking.
With only one half-day left on Chol HaMoed on Sunday, I hope that my friends and cousins visiting from the States will call to arrange to get together, as I return to my regular work routine on Tuesday. Raphaela has until Tuesday to get back on her normal sleep schedule, before starting Gan again.
2 comments:
"I also feel great sadness when I observe poor parenting skills and the devastation these undisciplined children cause to the public areas in Jerusalem."
In the Ethics of our Fathers there is a saying that goes something like "don't judge a person until you stand in his shoes." That is certainly true in parenting. You don't want people judging you, don't judge them. perhaps if you were in the same situation with their kids you would do "worse".
Not judging them when I don't know their particular situation, but the kids are clearly badly behaved and the parents are doing nothing to enforce discipline. When they start destroying public property and the mother or father stands by and simply watches, I would say they need help, all of them.
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