The beginning of the school year in front of Tall Oaks Montessori School. Shayna is 6y6m, Maya is 1y23m, and Elijah is 4y7m.
We returned from Israel to a flurry of day camps and
swimming lessons for the big kids, missed a good friend’s Colorado wedding but
still hope to see the brides before married life becomes commonplace for them,
finally enjoyed a slow week with a visit from Grandma Melinda, then Shayna took
the bus on August 11 to start 1st grade. Melinda was
finally able to leave most of her work behind and gave the kids her most
grandma-esk visit ever plus helped me make a pair of pants, twice, for Shayna.
The younger two and I said good by to her on the same day school took Shayna
from us. Fortunately, everyone parted with joy and gratitude, looking back on a
wonderful visit and new adventures to come.
(I’m loving the way some cloud wisps are curved over the
mountains.)
August also brought the responsibilities of my new job in
earnest. Around the close of spring, I accepted the Religious School Director
position at the Blacksburg Jewish Community Center (BJCC) upon one of my best
friends’ vacating it as her family moved to Austin, TX following a new job for
her husband. During the school year, the BJCC runs a small Sunday morning
school for preschoolers through Bar/Bat Mitzvot (6th/7th
grade) teaching about Jewish tradition, culture and history based on the Bible
and begins teaching Hebrew in Kindergarten in preparation for the children’s
Bar/Bat Mitzvot using a handful of wonderful college students as teachers. I
was skeptical of the school until we started Shayna in Kindergarten last year
and then was amazed at how much Jewishness and tradition it added to our home.
Since this is how we want to raise our children, culturally Jewish, it was
obvious I needed to step up to take on the responsibility of the school. While I
had no misconceptions about my inability to fill Leslie’s shoes, I have enjoyed
the flying leap out of my comfort zone the position has required. I’m still
amazed with what Elijah and Shayna gain from the lessons. Shayna seems to want
to know everything about everything so it stimulates new questions and topics
of discussion with her and she seems to be picking up Hebrew easily as well.
It’s incredible to listen to her read and progress in a new language.
Rainy Sukkah decorating at the Religious school.
Maya started pre-preschool at Tall Oaks Montessori at the
end of August. (It’s where all our children have gone with Elijah currently in
his last year there.) After the first couple weeks of adjustment and germ
exposure (they had 5 or 6 sick days between them in the first 10 of school),
both Maya and Elijah are thriving. Maya loves greeting each person she sees in
the morning and being with the eight other little people in her classroom. Her
favorite buddy seems to be the little brother of Elijah’s best friend at that
age. Luckily for the teachers, these two don’t run around each other like
squirrels the way the older two did, and still sometimes do. Elijah has stopped
all crying about going to school, a power trip he tortured Nahum with for most
of the previous year, and even takes some responsibility with Maya by walking
her to her room on days I don’t have time to park and walk them in. (Having a
little sister has been a boon for Elijah as it pushes him outside himself in
the need to respond to and care for another person.) While Maya assembles
puzzles, builds Lego towers and sorts plastic apples, Elijah has decided to
learn to read and explore every work associated with numbers in his classroom,
which includes the two preschool classes and kindergarten. Through the end of
Shayna’s last preschool year, she still preferred to paint, draw and work in
the life-skills area of the room. While Elijah has also brought home two world
maps, one pencil colored and the other painted, the vast majority of his work
is numbers and now some letters as well. Maya continues the tradition of each
of my children being uniquely and definitively their own person. It is a joy to
be on this journey of self-discovery with each of them. The bonus is that they
all still love and like each other and enjoy each other’s company.
(I’m beginning my 4 hour wait at Denver International
Airport.)
Maya turned 2-years-old one month and 10 days ago (October
6). She entertained the others by saying “cake!” to every birthday question
they could ask. We had a little party that had friends for all the kids and
adults. She has continued to blossom as an independent and opinionated little
person. She likes to play teasing word games and joke around with me. She
follows her brother and sister in their jump-off-the-bed and chase games and
plays with water every chance she gets (don’t ever give her a full cup of
water). She has been out of diapers for over a month now without any nighttime
accidents. I was able to donate all the nicely packaged diapers we had
accumulated over the years and thus happily begin the clearing of baby stuff
from our house.
Nahum submitted his sabbatical request almost two weeks ago
as one of the first steps in our attempt to spend the next school year in
Haifa, Israel. Nahum would work at the Technion, concentrating on his research.
Shayna would be in a regular Israeli public school for 2nd grade, or
kita Bet. Kindergarten is still in a separate school and is more like
kindergarten should be but it will most likely be a public school as well for
Elijah. We would like to find a home daycare type place Maya could go to a few
mornings a week to be surrounded by the language. The goal is for everyone to
be fluent in Hebrew by the end of our stay. I should be picking up my studying
again in the next month or so since it will take more for this old brain to
learn a new language. We’re all very excited but there are still many, many
things to do to make a year in Israel possible.
I had my first kid-free vacation, just a long weekend in
Eugene, OR but still a long overdue break. Thank you Aaron for marrying the
lovely Brandy this weekend so I could have a solid reason to get away. It was a
beautiful, intimate ceremony. I was hooked up with wonderful friends of theirs
as hosts that put up my two married parents as well. It was great to spend so
much time with Michael and Melind. I also got a big dose of time with my mom
Carole in a long walk along the Willamette River and to reconnect a bit with my
odd but fun aunts and uncles. I met Brandy for the first time and her
incredible daughter. It took me 36hrs before I started to relax but after that
I could feel the tension and worry of everyday life with three small kids begin
roll off of me. I knew the stress weighed me down but it has been eye-opening
just how much it does. I am now working out ways to hold onto some of this
peace.
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