Category Archives: miscellaneous

Font size on blog

miscellaneous

For a long time, I’ve been displeased with the font size on my blog – it was automatically set very small when I chose the WordPress theme. And when I’ve noticed others using the same WP theme, they also have very small fonts. I’d like to change the font to make it easier for people to read, but I haven’t found a way to change this so that it will stay that way for every post.

The only choice I have that I’m aware of now is to manually input the html code before every single paragraph that I write. As you can imagine, this is a little laborious and I don’t think I’ll realistically be able to make that extra effort every single time I post, but in any case, it’s hard for me to believe in the 21st century that this is necessary!

In my last post, I manually added in the code – you can see the difference in text size by looking at that and looking at this post. I realize that the font size shows up differently in different browsers, so I don’t know how most of you reading feel about this. So I’d like to get your feedback on this.

Please let me know – do you find the automated font size difficult to read? Or is it just right? Did you find the last post easier to read, or was it too large? If you’re a techie and know of a quick and easy way to reset the automated font to be bigger, please let me know!

In the absence of feedback, I’ll assume the current font is comfortable for most of you to read and continue with the automated smaller font size.

Avivah

Keeping my ‘side of the street’ clean

miscellaneous, parenting

Last week I shared about an unpleasant experience I had, in which someone said some insulting things to me.  (I’ve edited last week’s post to remove any mention of this incident, to protect the privacy of the person involved in case there are any local intrepid sleuths who will work out his identity based on clues in what I wrote. :))

I thought a lot about what was said to me and where it was coming from.  My dh, who is Mr. Wonderful Character, easy going, and doesn’t let things bother him, told me that the person has an ego issue and has shown himself in every conversation to be easily offended and hard to please, and to stop looking for what my part in this was because I didn’t do anything wrong.  But I wanted to clear the air with this  person, and felt I had to honestly consider his feelings in order to do that.

After trying hard to put myself  in his shoes and see it from his perspective, I thought perhaps I could have sounded as if I wasn’t valuing him enough for his efforts.  I decided that when I saw him again in person, I would apologize for any slight and let him know how much we appreciated what he’s done  in a given area.  Today I happened to see him again, so I went over to him and asked him if I could speak with him a few minutes.

I told him that I realized I had said something that might have given him the impression we don’t value his input and help fully, and that I wanted him to be aware that we are very appreciative of his concern and time.  I apologized, then when I paused, he coldly said, “Okay, fine.”  And turned away without a further comment.

I was a little surprised, honestly.  Though I certainly didn’t expect an apology from him for the harsh things he said,  I expected a bit more of a response than this!  In order to keep myself from falling into negative thoughts about him, I had to remind myself of my goal in speaking to him.

The goal wasn’t to manipulate him with kindness and make him like me. It was to take responsibility for my actions, and to be sure to keep ‘my side of the  street’ clean.  I can’t do anything about what he said, how he chooses to respond to me, or if he wants to stew in hostility against me forever.  But I’ve cleared my emotional side of things – I was careful in my original conversation about his feelings, had no desire to be hurtful, and apologized for any unintended slight today.  And now I’ve done my part.

Though I apologized because I thought it was something that would be of value to him, it was really me who benefited from the apology – now I can have peace of mind about the situation.  I don’t want to know that someone bears a grudge against me and speaks badly about me to others, without knowing that I’ve done my best to right the situation.  He can choose to hold on to his hostility (and apparently this is the choice he’s making) but it doesn’t mean I have get sucked into it – now I can let go of this scenario so it’s not taking up space in my head.  Which gets overly crowded without all of this drama.  🙂

Avivah

A great new toy – refrigerator box!

miscellaneous

A week and a half ago, I took ds4 to a playdate at a friend’s house, and as I entered the building, noticed a refrigerator box by the entrance.  When I got upstairs, the mother of his friend told  me she brought it there and was waiting for her husband to bring it upstairs for her kids to play with.

I thought that was a great idea – in fact, my first thought when I saw it was how nice it  would be for the littles to play in!  We don’t have any toys now that we moved  – we just brought some board games with us – but even if we had loads, the creative play and fun potential for little kids and boxes is immense!

A few days later, I saw another box but there was no way for me to get it home.  And then, that night dh mentioned he had seen a great box and wanted to bring it home for  the kids, and it was the exact same one I had seen.  Neither of us had mentioned the idea to one another, but we were obviously thinking along the same track.

On Thursday I was doing my weekly produce rearranging after my food delivery arrived, and put aside three extra cartons for the littles to play with.  They had a great time on Shabbos with them, and I mentioned to dd15 how I’d love to find a refrigerator box for them.

This morning, I heard some noise outside my building, and when I looked to see what it was, saw a moving truck, and some men were bringing a new refrigerator to my building!  They had just taken it out of the box which was sitting right next to the entrance of my building.  I ran downstairs before they had a chance to throw it away, and asked if I could take it.  They agreed right away, and with only a flight of stairs to bring the box up, it was now very doable for me to bring it home!

A bonus of this box over the others I saw is that it still had the bottom piece on it – this piece is heavy plastic covered with styrofoam, which makes a sturdy door when the refrigerator is laid on its side!  I’m looking forward to the reaction of ds5 and ds4 when they get home – I think they’re going to love this.  The biggest issue I have is where to keep it – I have space in my living/dining area, but it doesn’t aesthetically enhance the look of the room.  🙂  I think I’m going to switch a couch and the place where the box is right now to remedy that, so the box won’t be the first thing you see when you walk in.

Have you ever thought how amazing it is, the many things that come our way just when we want them?  Do you think that’s a coincidence?  I don’t!

Avivah

Being paid well for blogging!

miscellaneous

Last week someone emailed me to ask about starting a blog, and how to make a profit from it.  She said she was sure as a mother of a large family, I wouldn’t be blogging if it weren’t financially worth my while.

I emailed her back to let her know that I’m not a good person to ask about blogging for money, beyond to say that it’s possible.  I enjoy blogging because I enjoy being able to help others, and it’s also become an outlet for me to share about non-specific things that are part of my life, which I appreciate being able to do!

But it’s inaccurate to say that I don’t feel I’ve been compensated for the time I’ve put into this blog.  This week, I received a beautiful email:

>>I  wanted also to thank you for making such a difference in me and my life. I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to meet you and that I was able to take that (parenting) class with you. I don’t like to be a burden on someone or to push a relationship where I know I would be only a taker and that is why I haven’t written or otherwise made contact. But I wanted you to know that you have made a tremendous impact on my life. I know that you know I grew up in a very unhappy dysfunctional home and I’ve had to work very very hard at building myself and trying to create a happy home. I never forget the people who step into my life, sometimes very briefly, sometimes for longer, and make impressions on me that I carry forever and help change me as a person and as a mother. You are one of those people!  Thank you!  P.S. I love your blog!<<

I wanted to post this here to publicly say thank you to this person, as well as to say the following: giving someone else the opportunity to be a giver doesn’t by default make you a taker – you’ve given me something special by allowing me a place in your life.

Thank you to all of my readers for being here, and especially to those of you who have written to me personally and said that something I’ve shared has been of help to you – your feedback is truly the best ‘salary’ for blogging I could have!

Avivah

Young mom protects self and infant from intruder

miscellaneous, parenting

Some days it’s a really nice thing to see the news!  This story was from a few days ago, but since my husband’s laptop broke a few weeks ago, he’s using mine most of the day.  That means by the time I can use the computer, it’s usually late in the evening and I’m too tired to post.  But this is worth sharing even four days late.

An eighteen year old mother of a three month old baby was at home alone, a week after the death of her husband to cancer, when two men began trying to break into her home.  She called 911 and pleaded with them to send help immediately.  In the meantime, she loaded her shotgun and kept it aimed at the door while on the phone.  21 minutes later, no help had yet arrived, and the man battering her door down was finally successful and entered her home.

Having told the 911 dispatcher what was happening, she asked if she could shoot him if he entered her house.  And basically, she was told to do what she had to do if he entered.  As he came into her home, she shot and killed him.

There are too many news stories of horrible crimes, particularly against women, because they can’t protect themselves.  Being that one of these men had a twelve inch hunting knife with him, it’s pretty obvious that they weren’t there for a pleasant social call and this would have ended horribly if she hadn’t been armed.  You could almost cry for all that this very young woman has gone through, and that she had the nerves to do what she needed to do to protect herself and child is wonderful.

I think it’s critical to know how to defend oneself, though unfortunately I don’t know how to shoot.  It’s one of my regrets that I didn’t learn while I was in the US – my husband went to the shooting range but I was pregnant so couldn’t go with him, and then we never got around to it, though we talked about it.  It’s not much of a consolation that at least I learned how to load and aim a handgun.

The day before this story, a neighbor from the Seattle area in which I used to live told me last week that there have been a recent rash of burglaries in that area, about one a week.  She told me that one homeowner came out with his gun (Seattle being the liberally leaning area that it is, this was expressed with some shock) and held down the attempted robber until the police came.  I thought that was fabulous.  If  more responsible and law abiding people had handguns and knew how to safely use them, we’d see the crime rates drop like a stone, because criminals would think twice before attacking someone if they thought they might encounter serious resistance.

Avivah

Delicious Onion Kugel

miscellaneous

I haven’t posted recipes for quite a while, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been cooking just as much as usual!

Today I thought I’d share something new I made for Rosh Hashana that we all enjoyed, and plan to make it for Sukkos as well.  I saw this recipe on an online discussion board,  and I only slightly adapted it to include whole food ingredients.  It’s quick, easy, and very tasty!

Delicious Onion Kugel

  • 5 Vidalia (sweet) onions, sliced very thinly
  • 1/2 c. coconut oil
  • 1/2 c. water
  • 1 T. sea salt
  • 1 1/4 c. whole wheat flour
  • 2 t. baking powder
  • 5 eggs
  • pepper to taste
It’s important to use sweet onions for this recipe for it to come out right – regular onions will be fine but give it a different flavor.  Also, it tastes better when the onions are very finely sliced or even roughly grated in a food processor.  I chose to saute the onions but the recipe actually doesn’t call for that, which is part of what makes it so easy!
Mix the onions with the remaining ingredients.  Pour the mixture into a greased pan.  Bake at 350 degrees until brown, about 30 – 35 minutes.  Serve warm, and enjoy!  (This also freezes and reheats well.)
(This post is part of the Real Food Digest Sukkot edition.  Go check out more recipes or share your healthy Sukkot recipes there!)
Avivah

Finding my place…inside of me

aliyah, miscellaneous

This move to Israel has prompted a lot of thinking about who I am, where I want to belong, and what matters most to me.
Specifically, I’ve been grappling with religiously where we’ll best fit in, and how to guide my children in making educational choices that will resonate with who they are and what their needs are, while helping them fit into the community we have chosen.

My challenge is that religious groups are much more tightly identified here, and the group that would externally be the best match for us feels like somewhat of a mismatch because of some ideological differences.  As I’ve been thinking and rethinking this, I felt we were going to have to consciously choose a specific religious grouping (an anathema for someone like me who intensely dislikes labels!), and by making that choice it would exclude other groupings.   That felt very limiting to me.  Because if I label myself according to the group that we most look like, we would be expected to do things that might not be what I wanted to do, or to give up things that were of value to me.  I was concerned primarily about my oldest children, who will soon be old enough to be getting married, and where they would fit into all of this.

And on the other hand, I had hesitations about actively choosing a different religious group to affiliate with, particularly at a time of so much transition.  That wouldn’t be good for any of us.   And who’s to say once I see what it’s like on ‘the inside’ there, that I won’t feel similar frustrations?

Today I had a sudden burst of clarity when I was thinking about ds12’s school.  I suddenly saw that it’s not that I disagree with them on small things – I simply don’t value what they value overall.  I have different goals than they do, and it’s unreasonable of me to send my child to a school that isn’t in line with my core values, and then be disappointed in the choices that are made.  This clarity was a gift since it reflected the larger issue I was thinking quite a lot about, and here is what I really came firmly back to:

I’m happy with who I am, who my kids are, and what my life is like.  And I’m not willing to squeeze myself into someone else’s box in order to be what they think everyone should be.  If someone doesn’t like that, let them move on; the people who relate to me will like and appreciate me.  When it comes to building a sense of community, it’s not fitting in with everyone but finding people who value who you are that makes the difference.  As far as my children, G-d helps every person find what they need, and He will one day send my children wonderful people to marry who can see how amazing they are, and living true to who we all are won’t keep them from finding them.

It reminds me when I was dating, and it seemed many young men were looking for things I didn’t have: a wealthy family, prestigious lineage, etc – rather than getting discouraged and feeling there was something wrong with me because I came from a divorced home where money was tight, I saw it as a gift, that the people who weren’t suitable to me were quickly selecting themselves out.  This remains true for my kids, too.  For example, if someone won’t consider them suitable marriage material because they were homeschooled, then none of us have lost anything because we wouldn’t want someone that judgmental and closeminded in our family!

The quandary I shared above sounds simplistic, since I’m reducing it to the barest facts.  But those I’ve shared it with in detail who understand the significance of the issues involved have agreed that it’s a huge challenge.   What I’ve reaffirmed for myself today is,  I don’t need to change my religious affiliation, not even in my own head.  I need to continue to be clear about what matters to me, and act accordingly.  The only person I know how to be is me, and the only person I want to be is me.  And when I’m happy inside myself, things always work out well.

Avivah

More decisions, more changes….

homeschooling, miscellaneous

As I watched ds5 on his first day of kindergarten (Tues), I was thinking about ds4 waiting another year to enter this same class.  Though ds5 integrated very fluidly – his teacher keeps telling me what an amazing boy he is, how he seems to understand everything even without speaking Hebrew and get along well with lots of boys – I’m very aware that this is a gift of his nature.  So I realize that his experience won’t necessarily be indicative of what to expect for his younger brother in the coming year, and I began to think about what would best help ds4 acclimate.

It’s common among Anglos in Israel to speak English at home and to send their child to a Hebrew speaking gan (playgroup/preschool) program when they are about three.  At that age they very easily pick up the language and there’s not much of a self-consciousness about not being able to talk (because how much do they talk anyway?!).  Years ago, I spoke with a preschool teacher who told me she had two boys who first entered the gan system at 4 years old, unusually late in Israel.  It happened to be the mothers of both were friends of mine so I knew both of these boys were great kids, but the teacher told me their adjustment was significantly harder than for the three year olds because of their age.

The first morning that ds5 was in kindergarten, ds4 began requesting to go to gan (preschool) as well.  Our home dynamic has shifted very quickly around here from being a very social place with lots of action to suddenly being very quiet.  That means that I’m the one who needs to actively create the activity that previously was a shared venture between all of us.   Even after making myself much more available than usual, ds4 repeatedly was asking for more snacks and activities (from boredom) – after all, he lost the playmate who he spent most of his time with.

So I began to seriously consider sending ds4 to gan.  In addition to the age issue, one advantage of sending him this year is that the four and five year old programs are in buildings that are side by side, and the children can see each other at play during recess.  I felt that going together with ds5 would make ds4 feel connected, and this set up would keep him from feeling like he was totally alone among a sea of kids he can’t verbally communicate with.  Next year, ds5 would be in a different area and ds4 would really be on his own.  If he’s going to be totally on his own, it would be good to have the language.

While I was weighing these factors, we gave ds4 a chance to see the classroom, students, and teacher, and to watch what his response to them was.  On Weds., dh went to pick up ds5 from gan, and then  went in afterwards for ds4 to see the building from the inside and meet the teacher.  I did the same thing the following day.  Ds4 was very, very excited about going.  So we officially enrolled him, and this morning, Friday, I took ds5 and ds4 to gan, dropped of ds5, and then went in with ds4 (and ds2, who had come along with me).

I stayed for about an hour and 15 min to watch how things were going.  I told the teacher in advance that I’d be sitting in the back of the room and would stay as long as I felt ds4 needed me there, even if it meant being there the entire morning.  (I know that having parents stay around that long isn’t something that Israeli gannenets/ early childhood teachers are comfortable with, so I wanted her to have a heads up.)

I had expected ds4 to stay by my side for a while before going to play, but after hanging up his backpack, he immediately began coloring a picture at a table on the far side of the room.  Then he found the book section and plopped himself on the kiddie couch to look at some books, where ds2 eventually joined him since he got bored sitting on my lap.  (The first hour of the morning is free play though the teachers are circulating the entire time and providing different games and toys to the boys, so this was okay.)  Soon afterwards he began interacting with some of the other boys, and he seemed to be enjoying being there.  Not only didn’t he have the slightest hesitation when I left, he had a big smile on is face every time I glanced over at him.

All of these changes are happening very quickly, and they’re big changes.  I’m so busy taking care of things that it’s almost like I don’t have the luxury of feeling what I’m feeling about all of this.  But sometimes at unexpected moments, I suddenly get a big lump in my throat, like this morning when the teacher put on music to indicate clean-up time at the end of free play.  It was a piece from The Nutcracker, a ballet that I’ve taken my kids to a number of times, and I myself don’t know why that triggered me.  Maybe something about it being part of my old familiar life at a time when everything else is new and different; maybe because it’s a reminder of our homeschooling life when I did lots of trips and activities with our kids, together as a family rather than each one being in their own program.  I don’t know.

Dh picked him up from school and said the teacher told him that he fully participated and was happy the entire morning.  When he walked in the door, he had his backpack, a big helium balloon stating ‘Bruchim Habaim’ (welcome), and a glowing smile!

Ds4 home from first day of school (holding his 'welcome' balloon behind him)
Avivah

Camping trip – day 2 and 3

frugal strategies, miscellaneous

Back to our camping trip.  🙂

On Tuesday morning, I and the four older kids woke up pretty early and wanted to get the fire started for some hot cocoa.  Unfortunately, someone (not mentioning names :)) left the matches out of the zip lock bag they were in to protect them from moisture, and sitting out all night in the humidity right after a major rainstorm, they were worthless.  When it got late enough in the morning, ds12 found a ‘neighbor’ to borrow a flame from – he borrowed a clicker, lit our hurricane lamp with it, then biked back to return the clicker.  When he returned, he found the hurricane lamp had blown out, because he had forgotten to close the opening.  Nature is nothing if not a good teacher of natural consequences.

At this point, I decided that I’d let ds12 figure out how to remedy the situation, so I took the littles to the beach.  It was 8 am by now, and there was only one older woman on the entire beach, doing laps.   They had a great time playing – it was interesting that there are tiny fish that nibble their toes in the evening, but in the morning would run away from them.  By the time we headed back, ds12 had found another ‘neighbor’ to borrow a tiny box of matches from, so the fire was going and the kids were enjoying hot cocoa.  We changed the plan for breakfast from oatmeal to hamburgers, since the kids discovered that someone forgot to pack the dairy spoons, which made it impossible to eat any of the breakfast food we brought along.  Like I said before, adaptability is a great trait!

By the time we finished breakfast, it was close to lunch time.  Dd10 and ds12 went fishing while dd14 and ds9 hiked around the lake (something like 2 or 3 miles, not sure which trail they took). They were all back by 3 pm; ds12 had found the boat rental place and asked if they could go boating.  I was willing to rent the boat for them, but I had to be there, and the littles were pretty desperate for a nap by the point, so I told him we could do it after they napped.  But by then the boat place was closed, so instead we got the campfire ready for dinner.  In the outdoors, you need to plan ahead if you want to cook a meal The kids climbed a huge hill/small mountain to gather firewood – gathering firewood and making a fire is a big part of camping- it takes a lot of work and it’s something kids find very gratifying!

The kids also biked over the camp store and bought a box of plastic cutlery, which made breakfast the next morning a lot easier!

We went to the beach after dinner again, and though we didn’t have the empty beach like the night before, a lot of people had left so we still had a nice amount of space to ourselves.  We rarely go to beaches and being able to go every evening and morning while we were camping was really nice!  The campfire that night was much more easily started than the night before, and again we enjoyed singing together until late into the night.

The next morning, we had an early breakfast which was easily accomplished since dd14 banked the fire the night before – they learned their lesson from the day before that it paid to think ahead and minimize unnecessary work!  Then we all headed to the beach.  After swimming for an hour and a half, we walked over to the boat rental place.  We all got into lifejackets and I rented two paddle boats.  After some discussion, we decided that dd14, ds12, ds9, and ds3 would go on one boat.  I went on the second boat with dd10, ds5, and ds2.  Part of what made it challenging to figure out is the two strongest people have to be in front to paddle, but the two seats in the rear back up to the front seats, so you can’t see the children there.  So we had to work out the logistics of how to keep the littles safe and still have the oldest and most responsible people in front.  This is why I put ds3 in the back of the first boat with ds9, and in my boat, held ds2 on my lap as I paddled (then he started to fall asleep so I moved him between me and dd10 to a kind of shelf where I kept my arm around him as he slept – dd steered so I didn’t need to use my arms for anything else!), while ds5 was able to safely keep himself in the boat without needing someone to keep a constant eye on him.

Dd10 and I chose to go around the entire lake, but the other kids had different ideas, so they took their path.  It was a gorgeous, sunny, hot day – and about 40 minutes in, we needed some water. So we headed back to the dock, dd10 jumped out and got our big water bottle, and jumped back in. We passed it off to the other kids when our boats crossed paths.  I really enjoyed boating with the kids; usually dh does this kind of stuff while I wait on shore with the littles.

Since we did similar but not the same things on different days, it blurs in my mind exactly when the kids went biking together, when they went on exploratory nature walks – they did a lot of that.  Though it doesn’t sound like our days were that full, the time was comfortably used .  We weren’t pressured to rush from one activity to another, which is critical for everyone to feel like they’re able to relax internally.  But somehow there was always something to do.

We decided to leave a little on the earlier side on Thursday, so we could get back an hour beforeds9’s art lesson and dd14’s flute lesson, so they’d be able to shower and change without rushing.  It was a good thing we started earlier than we originally planned, since as we were packing up, the skies got cloudy and the wind started to blow…..yes, another storm hit!  It was amazing how fast everyone got everything into the van; we were able to beat what was a huge rainstorm that we drove through all the way home.  It was kind of fun to come full circle, starting off with a rainstorm and then finishing off with a rainstorm!

The kids were so tired that every single one of them totally conked out on the way home – camping is tiring in a good, deep kind of way.  We had a really, really nice time together, and created nice shared memories for everyone – and you never regret investing the time into creating memories!

Avivah

PS – on the cost side, it was a little under $53 for the campsite, and another $24 to rent two paddle boats for an hour.  So less than $80 for a really nice vacation together!

Summer plans for oldest kids

aliyah, miscellaneous, parenting

After enjoying having ds17 home for four days, yesterday I took him catch his bus back to NY.  I had been anticipating him returning home this weekend and staying for the summer, but just a few days before he was scheduled to return, he called to ask if I minded if he accepted a camp job that was offered to him.  He wasn’t actively looking for anything, but one of his rebbeim was very impressed with him and offered him a position. 

Here’s one situation that impressed his rebbe:  ds was invited to his rebbe’s home for a Shabbos meal, and offered a couple of times to hold the crying baby.  The rebbe declined, but as the baby kept screaming and screaming, the wife somewhat strongly asked her husband to please give the baby to ds and let him have a try.  Ds took the baby and in a few minutes put him to sleep.  😛

Anyway, back to the job offer.  He was offered a position as counselor for middle school boys, for four hours a day.  The camp is in the same neighborhood as his yeshiva, and ds is delighted with this plan because now he’ll be able to learn mornings and evenings at his yeshiva while living in his dorm, and is looking forward to the work as well.  Ds is good with kids of all ages – his siblings loved having him home – and I think they’re lucky to have him working there.  Well, of course I’m his mother so I have to say that, right?  😛 

Actually, I think it’s a win-win all around.  He’ll be spending time doing fun stuff with the campers, including joining them on trips, and will be in a positive framework at well.  His work will pay for his dorm bill and give him some extra cash, and he should be back at home for the last three weeks before we move.  Of course I’d really like to have him home for longer, because we really love having him home.  But this seems like a productive and enjoyable option for him.

Dd16 finished her school program last week.  I’ve been contemplating for months writing in detail about this program as a service to others since there’s almost no information available online about it, but for now I’ll just say that she’s happy it’s over and so am I.  She initially planned to spend the month of July with friends, but that was changed to a few days instead, and she had a great time last week traveling around with them. 

Since she wouldn’t be with friends for July, she decided to look for work as a live-in nanny for an English speaking family.  A family in Karmiel offered to let her stay with them for the summer in exchange for help with the kids/house, and another family in Karmiel will be paying her hourly for her help in the morning with their children.  This came about very quickly and with no effort on her part other than mentioning she was planning to look for a live-in nanny position when she was there for Shabbos a week and a half ago.

I know the family she will be staying with, so that makes me much more comfortable than with her staying with strangers; they are good people and I and trust them not to take advantage of her and work her non-stop (a common hazard with live-in help and something I was concerned about since dd is so accomodating and helpful).  I wanted her to be able to be with a family who would treat her as part of the family, which they are – I’ve been informed that their kids have adopted dd as their older sister.  She feels very comfortable there with the kids and both parents, which is important – they set her up so nicely with her own room that I told her only half-jokingly that she’ll have a hard time leaving!

The family she’s working for in the mornings will be our immediate neighbors very soon (they’ll be two doors away from us).  So again, I think it’s another win-win:  the families will not only be able to enjoy dd’s help while she’s there this summer, but will have a babysitter right in the neighborhood even after she moves out.  And she gets to stay in Israel, make some money, and have a non-pressured summer. 

Karmiel isn’t exactly a happening place for a teenager to be without friends or siblings, but I hope she’ll enjoy her time there.  One of the teen girls there who she met on a past visit is planning to introduce her to other girls her age, which should be really nice for her in the short term, but will also smooth the transition for living there.   

Avivah