Aaron was small enough to actually get into the chicken coop, which was useful for changing their water and so on. We wish we could visit these nice chickens all the time!
Friday, December 29, 2017
Thanksgiving chickens
We had Thanksgiving over at Kari and Danny's this year, and it was very nice as always. A highlight was the neighbor chickens, which needed care while we were there. These were the friendliest, tamest, most cuddly chickens any of us had ever met. They were so calm that you could walk right up and pet them. The boys learned how to hold them so that they would not flap their wings. Cousin Harry spoke conversationally to the chickens, which seemed to calm them even more.
Tuesday, December 26, 2017
Fagin
We must have been three-quarters of the way through “Oliver!” when we got to one of Fagin’s dialogues, and I realized that there was vaguely klezmer-ish music playing in the background… and I finally put together that Fagin, the miserly old crook who exploits the pickpocketing boys, is Jewish! I was astonished, as were the kids. In subsequent research, I learned that Fagin is one of (Western) literature’s archetypal Jewish villains; I'm embarrassed to have gotten this far in life and only be learning this now, but what can you do. I also learned that the anti-Semitic content had been greatly toned down for this movie; the 1949 production (!) was protested in postwar Germany and banned in (brand-new) Israel because of the depiction of Fagin, and (thanks to the Anti-Defamation League and the New York Board of Rabbis) wasn’t released in the US until they cut out seven minutes’ worth of big-nosed profile shots. Look at the schnozz they pasted onto Alec Guinness!
Yowza. As I say, the version we saw toned down the Jewish content, but even this version had devil references. For example, here is Ron Moody threatening Oliver with a miniature pitchfork.
The book apparently was recognized as grotesquely anti-semitic even at the time; a Jewish newspaper asked why "Jews alone should be excluded from the 'sympathizing heart' of this great author and powerful friend of the oppressed.” Dickens said he was just being realistic about the nature of street crime in that era, but he did revise the book to remove some of the offensive content, and wrote a sympathetic Jewish character into a later book. That’s good to know… but I think for family reading time, I will choose a different Dickens book.
Musicals
Over Thanksgiving break, I knew we were going to watch a number of family movies, and I decided we needed a theme. My choice was musicals, which was heartily approved by the others in the household. We started with “Into the Woods,” a terrific Sondheim mashup of various fairy-tales, with hilariously clever lyrics. We particularly enjoyed the badass Red Riding Hood, who is not only not traumatized by being eaten by the wolf, but subsequently makes his fur into a new cloak.
The next musical we watched was West Side Story, and wow, what a story. We were all enthralled. I remembered it was good, but it was just SO good. Aaron in particular was snapping his fingers for days. The dancing is fantastic – again, all ballet, and so very far removed from the mincing frippery that one can mistakenly associate with this dance form. I like showing Aaron dance that counters unfortunate gender stereotypes. We also had a good discussion about the fact that most of the actors were in “brownface” (they were white people depicting Puerto Rican people), with the exception of the inimitable Rita Moreno. She apparently recalls that the movie people even put brown makeup on her, because her skin color is lighter than they thought was typical for Puerto Ricans.
Finally, on a night that Jordan and Dale were out, Aaron and I watched the movie of “Newsies.” Loved it! More discussion of child labor (in New York this time), along with a great talk about how a good writer can speak truth to power. Aaron identifies as a good writer (I agree) and he felt quite inspired about writers helping to solve problems in the world. The dance in this show was less ballet and more acrobatics, and a rip-roaring good time.
Saturday, November 18, 2017
Temple field trip
As part of the eighth grade curriculum at Jordan's religious school, the kids take an all-day field trip to connect with different immigrant and refugee communities in south Seattle. They started the day at East African Community Services, where they had a lesson about the questions you have to be able to answer to pass the US citizenship test. They also heard from a Somali refugee who grew up in a refugee camp in Kenya: he said that in the mornings they would chase the sleepy hyenas, but in the evenings they had to be careful because the then-wide-awake hyenas would chase them. They had lunch at an Ethiopian restaurant and heard from the owner about her journey to the US; at 17, she won a lottery for a US visa, and came here without her family to start a business.
In the afternoon we visited a Vietnamese Buddhist temple; we were welcomed by a very friendly and informative young man in grey robes, took off our shoes to briefly admire the gorgeous sanctuary, heard a brief biography of the Buddha, and spent most of our time in the amazing gardens above the temple, full of statues and murals. The rabbi had prepared a scavenger hunt to find all the Buddhist symbols and learn what they mean. It was fascinating!
I went along as a chaperone, which was very easy, and gave me the opportunity to see Jordan among his Temple classmates. I observed that the kids sorted themselves into three clear groups: (1) the girls, (2) the boys, and (3) the Billings and SJCS kids, which was a mixed-gender group. This grouping is only a little oversimplified: there was one boy who moved back and forth between groups 2 and 3, and one pair of friends that was mostly on their own. But it was easy to observe. In this photo, they are bunched together but still basically in these three groups.
I didn't pay much attention to the group of girls, but I observed the boys' group, and it was fascinating to me. They had a very different style than Jordan and his friends. They presented as more sportsy, more consciously stylish in their clothes and hairstyles, and a little rougher in terms of their language and demeanor. They were perfectly well-behaved - all the kids were extremely pleasant all day - but they seemed a little socially precocious to me, as if they were acting a couple years older than they are. Now I have to admit the possibility that their parents might think my kid and his friends are acting young for their age... we don't get to say which is the "right" way to be! But what I can say is that groups 2 and 3 were distinctly different. No wonder they don't hang out together; even though everyone is perfectly nice to everyone else, they don't suit each other.
This was extremely informative for me, because I often have the impulse to encourage Jordan to connect with the other eighth graders at Temple, with the idea that this could be a valuable social group for him outside of school. What I saw of these different groups taught me that Jordan already knows who his people are. Group 3 is his people, and group 2 is really not his people generally speaking (though there are a couple kids in there that he enjoys one-on-one). He is doing great and I should cheerfully keep my mouth shut.
Pikuach nefesh
At Aaron's school, there is a Shabbat service each Friday afternoon and two kids are specially honored, so that in the course of the year each kid at the school has a special day. Family visits to celebrate them, and they get to choose the songs, lead the blessings, and (in the upper grades) deliver a "Shabbat report." Fifth graders are asked to report on a family member who embodies a particular mitzvah. Here is Aaron's report, about my dad. It's beautiful to hear part of what his grandpa meant to him.
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My grandpa, Steve Scherr, did the mitzvah of pikuach nefesh, saving a life. He was a criminal defense lawyer, and he thought that the death penalty was wrong. Protecting people from the death penalty in his cases was an important part of his life. He tried hard to do this.
He defended lots of people in criminal trials, including the husband of a hair salon owner, a priest, politicians, police officers, homeless people, millionaires, college professors, and Dan White--the murderer of a popular mayor of San Francisco. Many of his cases were death penalty trials. He fought hard for his clients, and none of them were sentenced to death. This meant he saved the lives of many people.
What inspired him to defend these people is that, the way he saw it, he was not only helping his clients. He was helping all their friends, family, and community. In Jewish tradition, the midrash says that saving one life is like saving a whole world. My grandpa must have saved at least 50 worlds then.
He said “For the American judicial system to work, everyone needs the best legal help they can get.” He knew judges and juries make mistakes, and a mistake in the the death penalty can never be taken back. He also knew that, sadly, the death penalty is racist. This means that more black people are killed, sometimes for things they didn’t do. This is horrible and mean and scary, and it needs to be fixed.
When my grandpa defended people, he showed צֶדֶק, justice, to every single person he defended. I learned from my grandpa just how many problems there are in our country's judicial system. The judicial system can be racist, sexist and be very unfair to homeless people and countless other groups. This needs to be fixed and that's why people like my grandpa are around. Thank you for listening and shabbat shalom.
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My grandpa, Steve Scherr, did the mitzvah of pikuach nefesh, saving a life. He was a criminal defense lawyer, and he thought that the death penalty was wrong. Protecting people from the death penalty in his cases was an important part of his life. He tried hard to do this.
He defended lots of people in criminal trials, including the husband of a hair salon owner, a priest, politicians, police officers, homeless people, millionaires, college professors, and Dan White--the murderer of a popular mayor of San Francisco. Many of his cases were death penalty trials. He fought hard for his clients, and none of them were sentenced to death. This meant he saved the lives of many people.
What inspired him to defend these people is that, the way he saw it, he was not only helping his clients. He was helping all their friends, family, and community. In Jewish tradition, the midrash says that saving one life is like saving a whole world. My grandpa must have saved at least 50 worlds then.
He said “For the American judicial system to work, everyone needs the best legal help they can get.” He knew judges and juries make mistakes, and a mistake in the the death penalty can never be taken back. He also knew that, sadly, the death penalty is racist. This means that more black people are killed, sometimes for things they didn’t do. This is horrible and mean and scary, and it needs to be fixed.
When my grandpa defended people, he showed צֶדֶק, justice, to every single person he defended. I learned from my grandpa just how many problems there are in our country's judicial system. The judicial system can be racist, sexist and be very unfair to homeless people and countless other groups. This needs to be fixed and that's why people like my grandpa are around. Thank you for listening and shabbat shalom.
Halloween
This year for Halloween I got it in my head that I wanted to make a kitty litter cake. This has got to be the most revolting cake joke ever, while also being delicious and funny (not scary). You start with homemade chocolate and vanilla cakes and crumble them together... in a catbox. Brand new from the store of course, but still.
Then you mix the crumbles with pudding, to make it stick together, and cover the top with white cookie crumbs. Some people like to stain a fraction of the cookie crumbs green, to mimic the chlorophyll that is in some kinds of cat litter, but I just left it plain.
Then you make homemade fudge, and roll it into poo shapes.
Isn't that lovely! I laughed and laughed the whole time I did this. Some people like to use tootsie rolls instead, but of course fudge is better. Then you arrange plenty of poo in the catbox. You just have to drape one over the edge, don't you agree? It puts the whole thing right over the top.
And then you serve it with a scoop. New, like the catbox, but still.
Once I had decided to make a kitty litter cake, of course I had to be the cat. Our friends have an annual fabulous Shabbatoween party, so there was a great audience. I draped a towel over the catbox and carried it around with me at the party; with each person I met, I said, "I am the most polite cat you'll ever meet because I bring my own catbox," and unveiled the load of poo. I said I was carrying it around "for convenience."
Then you mix the crumbles with pudding, to make it stick together, and cover the top with white cookie crumbs. Some people like to stain a fraction of the cookie crumbs green, to mimic the chlorophyll that is in some kinds of cat litter, but I just left it plain.
Then you make homemade fudge, and roll it into poo shapes.
Isn't that lovely! I laughed and laughed the whole time I did this. Some people like to use tootsie rolls instead, but of course fudge is better. Then you arrange plenty of poo in the catbox. You just have to drape one over the edge, don't you agree? It puts the whole thing right over the top.
And then you serve it with a scoop. New, like the catbox, but still.
Once I had decided to make a kitty litter cake, of course I had to be the cat. Our friends have an annual fabulous Shabbatoween party, so there was a great audience. I draped a towel over the catbox and carried it around with me at the party; with each person I met, I said, "I am the most polite cat you'll ever meet because I bring my own catbox," and unveiled the load of poo. I said I was carrying it around "for convenience."
It was the BEST. People shrieked and cracked up and recoiled and went to get their friends and kids to show them what I had. After a while I served it. Some people could not eat the poo; others only ate the poo. Some people could not eat it at all. One friend of Jordan's said, "I have mixed feelings about this cake. My tongue is telling me it's delicious, but my mind is telling me to throw it up." One friend of Aaron's said, "Wow, your mom's poo is the best!" It was all very satisfying.
I also made my Shabbatoween classic, candy corn challah. Horrible stuff, and yet, we just have to have it.
Tuesday, October 3, 2017
Weekdays
Here is the situation with weekdays, according to our normal routine and also for this week which has some special features.
Yesterday was Monday. On typical Mondays, Dale picks up both kids after school (first Aaron, then Jordan) and takes them to choir by 4pm. On choir days, you have to remember to get the choir binders when you leave the house in the morning, because there’s not time to go back to the house and get them after school. When he’s dropped off the kids, he stops by the grocery store and goes home and makes dinner. I pick up the kids at 6pm and bring them home and we eat. Then the kids have piano practice and homework for most of the rest of the evening. Last night, Dale also had band practice at our house, so the boys had to get piano done quickly.
Today is Tuesday. Both kids have hot lunch on Tuesday so there is no lunch packing in the mornings, though Aaron still needs to pack a snack (and I wonder if he packed one today). Jordan has flag football after school, so he has to bring his cleats. Normally on Tuesdays my friend Jessica picks up Aaron and her son Adam after school at 3:30 and brings them to Billings at 4pm. She picks up her older son Ian then, who is in track, not football; I meet her there to collect Aaron and also Nathaniel, another Billings friend who is in track. Aaron
and Nathaniel and I have half an hour to kill until Jordan is done with football at 4:30. Then we go back to my house, and the boys have maybe half an hour of time to do one item of homework or piano or something, before walking themselves down to religious school (including pizza dinner) at 5:30. During religious school, Dale and I host Tuesday Soup for parents with kids in religious school – I just make a big pot of soup and anyone who wants to can come and hang out with us.
However, today there is a track meet way down in Seward Park. So instead of the usual arrangement, I will pick up Aaron and Adam after school at 3:30, drop Adam at his home, pick up Jordan (only) at 4:30, and take him and Aaron home, from whence they will walk down to religious school at 5:30. There are track meets every Tuesday in October so this alternate arrangement is likely to persist for a few weeks. Also, there will not be any Tuesday Soup tonight, because it is curriculum night at the middle school.
Tomorrow is Wednesday, another choir day, my turn to pick them up this time (and remember the choir binders). I also have to remember to pick up the farm box, but on the bright side, that makes dinner easy. I do not have choir myself on Wednesday nights this fall, because I am taking a season off, so I am better able to supervise homework etc. in the evening. Dale has band practice at our house again tomorrow, with a different band than on Monday.
Thursdays Jordan gets out at 3:30, and it is his night to make dinner. Normally I pick him up, he and I grab any groceries he needs, and I help him get started cooking. If all this is pretty efficient, he can come with me to pick up Aaron from his afterschool program at 5pm. I also pick up Adam and give him a ride home. When we get back from that, Jordan finishes making dinner, and then there is piano and homework time in the evening. However, this Thursday, Jordan won’t be making dinner, because we are going to a friend’s house for dinner in her sukkah. We do, however, need to bring a dish; maybe Jordan can make it.
A further complication is that this Thursday, Aaron has the day off school because it is the first day of Sukkot. For these school holidays Jessica, Sara, and I have a kid-sitting ring; Thursday is my day to host. It’s only Amara this time because Adam has another thing. I can take a partial day and just do some work from home (the kids entertain themselves), but there is one 90-minute meeting first thing in the morning that I don’t want to miss. I suggested to Sara that we meet at the Billings dropoff and I take Aaron and Amara to work with me from there; they could have screen time or play with physics toys in my office for an hour and a half, and then I’d take them home, then over to a neighbor friend’s house in the middle of the day where there is a big ol’ sukkot shindig for all the fifth graders. Unfortunately, Amara has an interfering orthodontist appointment that morning. We asked whether Amara could go to the sukkot shindig house early, but it turns out their daughter has an orthodontist appointment too. So I will have my meeting on the phone, which is fine, and Amara will arrive at our house during my meeting.
As far as the end of the day on Thursday, I was thinking it would be super easy, because we’re all going to the same sukkot dinner party so I could just bring Amara there. But it turns out Amara has theater rehearsal at 4:30. So the plan is that when I pick up Jordan at 3:30, I will give Amara to her brother Nathaniel (who is also released at 3:30 that day), and they will take the bus together to her rehearsal. (I offered to drive them, but they are jazzed about the bus.) And then we will probably see them at dinner afterwards.
Finally, there is Friday. Normally on Fridays I pick up Aaron at 3:30, happily hang around his schoolyard for a while with lots of other happy Friday parents, pick up Jordan at 4:30 after flag football, and go home and make a nice dinner. However, this Friday is another day off for Aaron. Amara’s family is hosting, and I haven’t figured out the logistics yet. Maybe Dale will be able to take Aaron to their house in the morning, and we will all meet back at the Billings pickup at 4pm (when track is done); Aaron and I would then wait for Jordan to get out of flag football at 4:30, and go home for dinner. Dale has a gig Friday night so it will be just the three of us.
Phew. That’s a lot. This week has special circumstances because of the holidays, but honestly every week has something outside of the ordinary, and even just the normal routine is pretty complex. And I haven't even mentioned the morning carpool. Parent friends, I am sure you feel me. I don’t know how we do it!
Today is Tuesday. Both kids have hot lunch on Tuesday so there is no lunch packing in the mornings, though Aaron still needs to pack a snack (and I wonder if he packed one today). Jordan has flag football after school, so he has to bring his cleats. Normally on Tuesdays my friend Jessica picks up Aaron and her son Adam after school at 3:30 and brings them to Billings at 4pm. She picks up her older son Ian then, who is in track, not football; I meet her there to collect Aaron and also Nathaniel, another Billings friend who is in track. Aaron
However, today there is a track meet way down in Seward Park. So instead of the usual arrangement, I will pick up Aaron and Adam after school at 3:30, drop Adam at his home, pick up Jordan (only) at 4:30, and take him and Aaron home, from whence they will walk down to religious school at 5:30. There are track meets every Tuesday in October so this alternate arrangement is likely to persist for a few weeks. Also, there will not be any Tuesday Soup tonight, because it is curriculum night at the middle school.
Tomorrow is Wednesday, another choir day, my turn to pick them up this time (and remember the choir binders). I also have to remember to pick up the farm box, but on the bright side, that makes dinner easy. I do not have choir myself on Wednesday nights this fall, because I am taking a season off, so I am better able to supervise homework etc. in the evening. Dale has band practice at our house again tomorrow, with a different band than on Monday.
Thursdays Jordan gets out at 3:30, and it is his night to make dinner. Normally I pick him up, he and I grab any groceries he needs, and I help him get started cooking. If all this is pretty efficient, he can come with me to pick up Aaron from his afterschool program at 5pm. I also pick up Adam and give him a ride home. When we get back from that, Jordan finishes making dinner, and then there is piano and homework time in the evening. However, this Thursday, Jordan won’t be making dinner, because we are going to a friend’s house for dinner in her sukkah. We do, however, need to bring a dish; maybe Jordan can make it.
A further complication is that this Thursday, Aaron has the day off school because it is the first day of Sukkot. For these school holidays Jessica, Sara, and I have a kid-sitting ring; Thursday is my day to host. It’s only Amara this time because Adam has another thing. I can take a partial day and just do some work from home (the kids entertain themselves), but there is one 90-minute meeting first thing in the morning that I don’t want to miss. I suggested to Sara that we meet at the Billings dropoff and I take Aaron and Amara to work with me from there; they could have screen time or play with physics toys in my office for an hour and a half, and then I’d take them home, then over to a neighbor friend’s house in the middle of the day where there is a big ol’ sukkot shindig for all the fifth graders. Unfortunately, Amara has an interfering orthodontist appointment that morning. We asked whether Amara could go to the sukkot shindig house early, but it turns out their daughter has an orthodontist appointment too. So I will have my meeting on the phone, which is fine, and Amara will arrive at our house during my meeting.
As far as the end of the day on Thursday, I was thinking it would be super easy, because we’re all going to the same sukkot dinner party so I could just bring Amara there. But it turns out Amara has theater rehearsal at 4:30. So the plan is that when I pick up Jordan at 3:30, I will give Amara to her brother Nathaniel (who is also released at 3:30 that day), and they will take the bus together to her rehearsal. (I offered to drive them, but they are jazzed about the bus.) And then we will probably see them at dinner afterwards.
Finally, there is Friday. Normally on Fridays I pick up Aaron at 3:30, happily hang around his schoolyard for a while with lots of other happy Friday parents, pick up Jordan at 4:30 after flag football, and go home and make a nice dinner. However, this Friday is another day off for Aaron. Amara’s family is hosting, and I haven’t figured out the logistics yet. Maybe Dale will be able to take Aaron to their house in the morning, and we will all meet back at the Billings pickup at 4pm (when track is done); Aaron and I would then wait for Jordan to get out of flag football at 4:30, and go home for dinner. Dale has a gig Friday night so it will be just the three of us.
Phew. That’s a lot. This week has special circumstances because of the holidays, but honestly every week has something outside of the ordinary, and even just the normal routine is pretty complex. And I haven't even mentioned the morning carpool. Parent friends, I am sure you feel me. I don’t know how we do it!
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