Is Your Tuna Sandwich Infested? -And other Gems

I made a tuna sandwich for Zusha with scallions. It was his favorite type of bun. He likes tuna, too. After a couple of bites, he opened up the bun and saw the scallions.
"What is this, Mama? A snail? I don't want it."
He handed the entire sandwich back to me.

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Over Yom Tov, I was very impressed the way Zusha kept track of which day was which.
Whenever I'd tell him to put on his Shabbos shoes, he'd answer, "No, they're Yom Tov shoes." Okay, fine.
On the last days of Sukkos they became "Shmini Atzeres shoes" and then "Simchas Tora shoes." With remarkable accuracy, I might add!

Today, thinking I was safe, I asked him to put on his Shabbos shoes.
"No, they are Shabbos Parshas Noach shoes!"

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Today Zusha told us he has a friend in cheider, and his name is S'chach. When he saw our reaction to this statement, he thought a bit longer and corrected himself, "His name is Yitzchak."
Then he laughed and said, "Zusha thought his name was S'chach."

I Love My Kids

A couple of days ago the kids woke up at the crack of dawn. I sent them on their merry way and went back to sleep. Zusha took matters into his own hands and served breakfast, as usual. This morning bananas were on the menu.

I awoke to the sound of Gedalya saying, "No tatata, no tatata," (no banana.) I vaguely assessed the situation. Apparently when he tried to give me his banana that he no longer wanted and I didn't respond, he began smearing it all over me. Nice.
Then he took the bunch of 3 bananas and began lifting one up and down, up and down, saying, "Bzhhhh kakuv, bbbzhhh kakuv." Another boring household item miraculously turned into an excavator.

Our New Pets

I Found the Best Thing for Zusha

I was browsing in a variety store and found a book about Elmo. Being that Zusha is somewhat obsessed with this creature, I bought two of these books (so both kids can read peacefully.)
Little did I realize how valuable this book will turn out to be.
In it, the little creatures all go to school for the first time. They make friends, play games, color, eat lunch... Zusha and Gedalya are both so into it.

But the best part is that Zusha's new motivation became these happy monsters. Now he tells me he will play nicely like all the Elmos, be happy like all the Elmos, sit at the table when the Rebbi says to like all the Elmos, have lots of fun like all the Elmos and not play with the door like all the Elmos.

When he tells me in the morning that he will cry in cheider, I ask, "You will be sad like all the Elmos?"
And he answers, "No, all the Elmos are happy!"
"So you will cry and be sad or you'll be happy like the Elmos?"

Of course, that's not a tough guess.

When I brought him today, the Rebbi greeted him warmly, which made us both feel good. As I was leaving, Zusha shot me an overly exaggerated smile... he was trying to overpower his feelings- because Elmos don't cry in cheider!

Oh, and yesterday Zusha finally sang for me a song from cheider. I kept asking him and he always refused. Yesterday he was playing on the floor. Suddenly he turned to me and said, "Zusha just sang a song from cheider for Mama."
I wasn't listening before, so I asked him to sing it again. He said, "No, I already did."
Later in the evening he sang it again...

הייב אויף רעכטע הענטעלע און לייג אויף די אויגעלעך

...which is what they sing before saying Shema. I should ask the Rebbi what they daven so I could do it with Zusha at home, too. He'd love it.

I Can't Believe that...

...Sukkos is over! Of course, I had my fill of 3-day Yomim Tovim all over this month's calendar. But the idea itself is mind boggling. All the Yomim Tovim are over and we are left with a two-month drought, until Chanuka. It will be the same routine, every day for the next two months. With all the whirlwind activities that didn't leave a dull moment done and over with, this will be a big adjustment.
Speaking of Chanuka, Pesach cleaning officially begins right after Chanuka ends!

OK, bring on the tomatoes.
But honestly, we're closer to next Pesach that the last one already!

Times Moves On

At every season change, I am reminded at which stage of life our family was last year. The whole atmosphere, the seasonal smells, bring me back to the way life was a year ago. And such lovely memories are stirred up that I get excited for the new season.
These pictures were taken almost exactly one year apart. It's wondrous for me to look at them and reminisce about what was, marvel at what is, and wonder about what will be.

I'm looking forward to the fun, surprises and new milestones that lie in store. So many questions... how will Zusha adjust to cheider once again? How will I manage to walk four miles every day? How will Gedalya feel without his favorite brother?
It will work out beautifully, I'm sure. It always has.

The Kids are Conducting an Experiment

It's about how long a child can survive without sleep.
Last night they went to sleep very nicely. At about 11 PM Gedalya woke up to nurse. I took care of that nicely. But then Zusha got up and started squealing for some weird reason. Being that they were both in my bed, they both got up, ready to party!
They glanced at each other, burst out laughing, and climbed straight off the bed. Sure, no problem with taking a midnight walk around the house.
I will not torture myself by reliving the details of that night.
The gist of it goes like this: I tried to tackle them together, then Hillel and I tried to divide and conquer. Then I tried to put them together again. Then Hillel and I switched kids.
When Hillel decided he's had enough and went down to the sukka, I was left with Gedalya in bed with me and Zusha in the kitchen shaking a container of nuts. At 1:00 AM.

I took away his nuts rattle.
He screamed. There went any ideas Gedalya had of sleep out the window.
After another hour screaming, crying, rearranging positions... everyone was 99% asleep.
Until Zusha said, "Mhmh."
And Gedalya burst out into fits of laughter.
By 2:30 AM, though, I won.

OK, I figured they'd sleep late. Hurray!
8:30 AM. Zusha wakes up screaming that he lost his Elmo.
In case that didn't wake Gedalya up, Zusha said, "Mhmh" again.
And Gedalya burst out into fits of laughter.

I kicked them both out of my room and locked the door. An hour later I come out and see yogurt spread evenly over the entire dining room floor. I clean it up, but decide to ignore two more identical puddles.
At the refrigerator I realize something... I bought nine yogurts yesterday. Now there are two left. I only found three containers smeared on my floors. Uh, oh.
OK, so they ate and/or ruined $7 worth of yogurt. $7 for an hour of sleep is worth it.

I figured I'd put the kids to nap very soon. Actually, Gedalya went in a couple of hours later than usual and Zusha refused to nap at all. And at night they went to bed over an hour late.

That day the children, bless their souls, went above and beyond their duty to act like untamed creatures. Gedalya discovered a stack of frames that I recently bought, and, pretending they were coins to throw into slots, he sent them flying between the banister rails and onto the stairs.
He sat there, saying, "Tue? Deeeb!" ("Are you sure? Say please!" the way I always ask the kids before throwing a coin into the ride's slot.)

Imagine the scene. To the background music of "Tue? Deeb!" CRASH, I notice a pink string, attached on one side to a wall clock that's lying on the floor, and on the other side to a floss container in Zusha's hand, weaving in and out and all around me.
I start winding it back up from the closest spot I can grab. After 15 minutes, I have conquered the string.

As I sit here, there is an opened yogurt container on the floor, up side down. Kids' pajamas from yesterday and today in all four corners of the dining room, a shredded magazine serving as a disposable carpet of sorts in our dining room, shopping bags from who-knows-when full of who-knows-what are dotting the hallway.

And you know that you desperately need sleep when you mis-type more words than you get correct.
Hopefully the kids are satisfied with their experiment results so we all can have a...
Good Night!