Someone mentioned to me recently that I can now officially call myself Mama Duck, since I have the same number of children as Mrs. Mallard in "Make Way for Ducklings." Since I haven't bothered making up blogger names for my children (I thought it would be too hard to keep track of who is supposed to be whom) I will now dub them Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack, Nack, Oack, Pack and Quack.
(Jack and Nack are the boys)
April, 2008: I can't keep track this way, so I'm re-nicknaming my kids. If you actually know them, you can probably figure out who is who just from the names I chose, but except for Jelly, don't ever call any of them any of these nicknames in real life. Not if you want them to answer, anyway.
January, 2014: Attempt to rename them failed, because the nicknames bothered me. Switching to initials and backdating the text to reflect that.
MY, my firstborn, a boy. age 10
CD, next in line, a girl, age 9
RM, girl, age 8
HT, girl, age 7
MM, boy, age 5
SS, girl, age 3
NL, (also called Jelly when she was 2), girl, very very 2
TT, the baby, almost 1
Thursday, August 23, 2007
I must be insane.
Okay, who in her right mind would volunteer to go on a trip that involved 1 grownup and 8 kids (all under 11) in a big van for an hour in each direction, plus another 3 kids and 2 more grownups all together on the T for an hour and a half each way involving 3 train changes in total (2 during rush hour) and a couple of hours keeping track of just under a dozen kids (all under 11) in the Museum of Science?
Me, I guess, because I did. Last week.
3 grownups. 11 children, ages 10, 9, 8, 7, 7, 6, 4, 3, 22mo, 3mo, and 2mo. On the T, because my big van is just a few inches too tall for the parking garage. Two in strollers, one in a sling. Switching at Government Center. (twice, plus again when the T we were on went express on the way home).
Actually, we had a lot of fun. But I'm not volunteering to do it again anytime soon. So this week, we took 2 grownups and 12 children (fewer grownups and we added a 5 yr old) to Carousel Village instead, where my van fits in the open-air parking.
And yes, we all survived the trip.
Me, I guess, because I did. Last week.
3 grownups. 11 children, ages 10, 9, 8, 7, 7, 6, 4, 3, 22mo, 3mo, and 2mo. On the T, because my big van is just a few inches too tall for the parking garage. Two in strollers, one in a sling. Switching at Government Center. (twice, plus again when the T we were on went express on the way home).
Actually, we had a lot of fun. But I'm not volunteering to do it again anytime soon. So this week, we took 2 grownups and 12 children (fewer grownups and we added a 5 yr old) to Carousel Village instead, where my van fits in the open-air parking.
And yes, we all survived the trip.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
And the Magic number is...
37.
Yes, I made it to 37 with a brocha!!! (Okay, so I missed a couple of brochot along the way, but not any actual numbers, so it still counts.) And that means I counted with a brocha in labor (27), and the night after giving birth (28), and for a good week and a half after! Not bad. And then my husband went back to work, I had all the kids plus a newborn, and I promptly forgot a whole day.
Oh, and RenReb missed one in the thirties too, so I might have even gotten past her! Which makes me feel a bit better, although compared to last year's magic number (1, yes, I missed counting completely on the second day of Sefiras HaOmer last year, yes, that made me feel pretty dumb, although I completely blame my husband for failing to remind me.) I think I did a pretty good job!
Yes, I made it to 37 with a brocha!!! (Okay, so I missed a couple of brochot along the way, but not any actual numbers, so it still counts.) And that means I counted with a brocha in labor (27), and the night after giving birth (28), and for a good week and a half after! Not bad. And then my husband went back to work, I had all the kids plus a newborn, and I promptly forgot a whole day.
Oh, and RenReb missed one in the thirties too, so I might have even gotten past her! Which makes me feel a bit better, although compared to last year's magic number (1, yes, I missed counting completely on the second day of Sefiras HaOmer last year, yes, that made me feel pretty dumb, although I completely blame my husband for failing to remind me.) I think I did a pretty good job!
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Tzniut Meme
From Sephardilady over at Orthonomics... I "stole" it, she didn't tag me.
For married women, do you dress by the same standards as you did when you got married? Also for married women, do you and your husband conflict about this issue?
More or less. My hemlines have snuck a little longer, and there was one snood I used to wear (crocheted, with crocheted headband) that always showed a bit more hair than any others that I had... I no longer wear that style. The only things my husband said on the subject were that he would prefer that I cover all my hair, and he doesn't think Red is a tzniusdik color... so for him specifically, I no longer wear red in public. I think I've convinced him that burgundy, merlot, et al (you know, wine colors) are not technically red.
Do you often feel uncomfortable when you are in the company of a group keeping higher or lower standards than you?
Nope... I'm comfortable with my level, which is a really nice feeling.
How accepting is your community of women who "deviate" from the generally accepted mode of dress?
Pretty accepting, I think... there's such a wide range of "Acceptable" here. I love this community.
If you have a daughter, has tzniut become an issue yet?
I have 3 daughters over the age of 3, so yes. One of them is specifically forbidden to go out in public without tights, although the others are permitted to wear knee socks... precisely because she just isn't tniusdik in socks. I'm not sure I can explain it... but her skirt stays on her legs better with tights and if it doesn't at least she's covered.
Have your standards changed from when you were growing up, and why?
Um, yeah!! When I was a kid, almost anything went. But I'm cheating on this one... I wasn't raised observant. My parents let me wear just about anything I wanted to. It was my own personal sense of modesty that insisted on skirts when possible, not too tight jeans, long shorts (at least to my knees) and no belly-baring anything.
For married women, do you dress by the same standards as you did when you got married? Also for married women, do you and your husband conflict about this issue?
More or less. My hemlines have snuck a little longer, and there was one snood I used to wear (crocheted, with crocheted headband) that always showed a bit more hair than any others that I had... I no longer wear that style. The only things my husband said on the subject were that he would prefer that I cover all my hair, and he doesn't think Red is a tzniusdik color... so for him specifically, I no longer wear red in public. I think I've convinced him that burgundy, merlot, et al (you know, wine colors) are not technically red.
Do you often feel uncomfortable when you are in the company of a group keeping higher or lower standards than you?
Nope... I'm comfortable with my level, which is a really nice feeling.
How accepting is your community of women who "deviate" from the generally accepted mode of dress?
Pretty accepting, I think... there's such a wide range of "Acceptable" here. I love this community.
If you have a daughter, has tzniut become an issue yet?
I have 3 daughters over the age of 3, so yes. One of them is specifically forbidden to go out in public without tights, although the others are permitted to wear knee socks... precisely because she just isn't tniusdik in socks. I'm not sure I can explain it... but her skirt stays on her legs better with tights and if it doesn't at least she's covered.
Have your standards changed from when you were growing up, and why?
Um, yeah!! When I was a kid, almost anything went. But I'm cheating on this one... I wasn't raised observant. My parents let me wear just about anything I wanted to. It was my own personal sense of modesty that insisted on skirts when possible, not too tight jeans, long shorts (at least to my knees) and no belly-baring anything.
Thursday, November 09, 2006
What's in a name?
I grew up using my English name. It was, while not exactly unique, pretty rare. 0.006% of females in the United States (7650 women) share my name, at least the way my parents chose to spell it. 63750 additional women have the same name with the more common spelling variant, but that is only another 0.05%, and still pretty rare. I really liked being able to identify myself by just my first name and having people instantly know who I was, since they probably didn't know anyone else by the same name.
Then I married into a family that, while giving their children both English and Hebrew names, calls their children exclusively by their Hebrew names. My husband wanted to call me by my Hebrew name. Now, I have nothing against the name Miriam. I really do like it. But it's just too common!
Do you know how many women in the US have Miriam as their legal name? About 84150, or 0.066% of US females. Which would lead you to believe that it is still pretty rare... except that when you only look at the Jewish community, it's more like 25%. (I'm making that number up completely, but it is much much bigger than 1, 2 or even 5%). Most families have a Miriam. Suddenly, Miriam isn't enough to identify me. Luckily, my last name isn't so common... there are only about 20 of us, nationwide.
Still, I miss feeling rare and special... but not enough to go back to using my English name more.
(Statistics supplied by Name Statistics.)
Then I married into a family that, while giving their children both English and Hebrew names, calls their children exclusively by their Hebrew names. My husband wanted to call me by my Hebrew name. Now, I have nothing against the name Miriam. I really do like it. But it's just too common!
Do you know how many women in the US have Miriam as their legal name? About 84150, or 0.066% of US females. Which would lead you to believe that it is still pretty rare... except that when you only look at the Jewish community, it's more like 25%. (I'm making that number up completely, but it is much much bigger than 1, 2 or even 5%). Most families have a Miriam. Suddenly, Miriam isn't enough to identify me. Luckily, my last name isn't so common... there are only about 20 of us, nationwide.
Still, I miss feeling rare and special... but not enough to go back to using my English name more.
(Statistics supplied by Name Statistics.)
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