Sharing the beauty of motherhood

I just had to share this beautiful photo from my beloved MW, Olivia with her daughter Zora.

Olivia's caption: Love is when you don't mind sitting in an akward position for nearly an hour while your beloved sleeps :)

And later that same night, my little guy woke up very disgruntled. He was clammy and mosquito-bitten, and he pulled off his diaper... He finally settled himself, lay his head on my chest and fell back asleep. He must have been jealous of Zora! And I found more pillows to keep me propped up so he'd be comfortable. I felt like I could have stayed like that all night, just breathing in his sweet scent, feeling the softness of his skin, and watching the rise and fall of his breathing...

Of course, in retrospect, I'm very thankful to Yoram for gently helping me put on a new diaper and lay him down in his own bed (for at least a few hours till he came back in to our room!)

What's in your backpack?

This post is inspired by Crazy Stable's recent post about the sad reality of the death of playtime (my high school English teacher is not going to like that sentence!) You should read it.

It reminded me of a recent experience with Tani and an inspection of the contents of his backpack...

Tani is learning in an anthroposophic learning environment where he and his 13 classmates learn through experience, movement, art, etc... He knows all his letter and numbers up to 13 (they just started numbers a few weeks ago), he creates phenomenal drawings based on the readings of the weekly Torah portion, and he can sounds out words that he sees with ease. Yes, Mom, I know you think he's exceptional - but you're biased, ok? His classmates are on par.

He doesn't get homework. About a month ago Yoram realized that Tani's backpack was really heavy and we wondered what's inside it? It's not like he's lugging textbooks and binders like his public school counterparts...  so we asked him to show us.

"Oh," I said, "exactly what a six year old should have in his backpack!"
The full inventory:

• a small green towel from his pre-school graduation (always know where your towel is!)
• several rocks of varying shapes, colors and sizes - he also told us the names of some of them, such as flint and basalt
• a collection of sticks
• some bits of crayon
• his case of colored pencils that I embroidered with his name (by hand! didn't know I was that talented, didja?)

After reading the above post, I was so thankful that my kids have more fun with rocks and sticks than with digital apparatus. And can I put in a shameless Golan Aliyah plug here? It helps that we live in a town where the kids can go play outside themselves, where the prominence of digital play pieces is extremely low, and where we have lots and lots of nature and animals 10 minutes walk in any direction!

Thanks for the inspiration! And thanks for sharing the post, Lenore, @FreeRangeKids!

Dave Barry on birth in the modern world

In all relationships there are things that you bring and things that your husband brings, and even after 9 years, you can still pick up items and say, "oh, that B52's album is from my husbands pre-marriage days..." and other such things.

One of the things my beloved husband brought with him that I didn't think would interest me is a compilation of 4 Dave Barry books called, "All the Dave Barry You Could Ever Want" It would probably have remained on the shelf as a conversation piece if one of our good friends wasn't already a Dave Barry fan. Whenever he is over, he take it out to read. He happened to have left it out on the couch the last time he was here, and as I was sitting and nursing this evening, I decided to pick it up and randomly open it. And this is what I found:

In his book, "Dave Barry's Guide to Babies and Other Hazards of Sex" he talks about the cost of having a baby:

"In primitive times, having a baby was very inexpensive. When women were ready to give birth, they simply went off and squatted in a field; thiss cost nothing except for a nominal field rental charge. Today, of course, the medical profession prefers that you have your baby in a hospital, because only there can doctors, thanks to the many advances in medical equipment and techniques, receive large sums of money." 

Love it! 

I don't know if I'll ever listen to the B52's album, but after 8 and a half years of marriage, my husband's made a Dave Barry fan out of me!

Let's go to the movies...

I have a totally random thought that I decided to share... That's what blogging is all about right? :-)

This clip is from one of my all time favorite movies, Annie. And it illustrates an interesting point that came up today in conversation...



Somehow our lunch table conversation stumbled upon movies, "have you seen this Avatar yet?" and "Do you believe their releasing a Pirates of the Caribbean 4?!"

I don't mind discussing movies from an artistic perspective - the plot and script from a literary standpoint, the cinematography, and my favorite subject - the sociology of movies. What makes a movie popular? What demographic was it targeting and why did it succeed or not. One of my guests, a good friend, said she hates sequels, they are almost always a waste. She said she was so upset by the 2nd and 3rd Pirates movie, to which her husband added, "they should have just let that franchise die." And then my friend's next question was, "so when are we going to see Harry Potter 7?!"

Harry Potter is not something I am going to see in the theater, but I'll rent it I'm sure. Eventually our conversation turned to other things, and the subject was left off.

Then later this evening I was thinking about it. I actually enjoyed the Pirates trilogy, and although I won't rush to see it in theaters, I will probably watch the 4th movie as well. So does that make me dense, or uncultured, or part of the unthinking masses? I don't think so. I think it just depends on what one expects from their movie viewing experience.

I only watch a very specific kind of movie. A movie that is entertaining, and leaves me feeling happy and unviolated. I appreciate a witty and intelligent script, interesting cinematography and actors who take their work seriously - but not too seriously! I won't complain if the plot is exceptionally unique, the acting superb and the dialog scintillating, but I don't need it.

In the words of Martin Charnin, (who wrote the lyrics for the above number) "Only happy endings, that's our recipe..." That's a good movie for me!

Uncomfortably numb...

It took me until this minute and writing the title for this post to realize that what I'm experiencing is actually numbness... the question is why?

We have a big decision in front of us right now, and it's weighing so heavily in me that I can't even feel it. The number of factors and variables seem endless and the consequences of a wrong decision would add significant difficulty to our lives. I guess my heart knows that if it would also contribute to the situation by adding the emotional aspect of the choices, I'd just collapse, so I think that's why I've gone numb... and yet, the drum is still beating and a decision must be reached.

I'm hoping that writing will help, so you're along for the ride - and comments are sooo very welcome!

We came to the Golan w/ a dream of living on a moshav (small settlement) and having some land to have a homestead. We came to Katzerin b/c there was no place  to rent on any of the religious moshavs, and we weren't (are still not) in a position to buy anything. 

We've been in Katzerin for a year and a half now. We have friends, we love our neighbors, we've become the unofficial "absorption center" and "guest house" of Katzerin and we love it! But we don't have room for even a garden. (Although we do have a lemon tree!) Anyway, just when we thought we'd push off our decision of where in the Golan to settle down for another year, our landlord called to tell us that they want to sell the house. So we won't be renewing this lease... and now we have to make a decision... 

Now I need to backtrack... A few months ago I visited Avnei Eitan to pick something up. It is a beautiful settlement where lots of people have animals, and most are farmers. The yishuv had recently closed their absorption process because they were over capacity and had no new lots available. When I left, I told my husband that I think I'd like to live there if they were still accepting new families. It just resonated with me. But no klita meant I didn't have to think about it anymore b/c it's not an option...

... 2 weeks ago I started a new job as client manager for a tourism company in Avnei Eitan. Since we don't have a car at the moment, I have been working mainly from home with the idea of going in once a week via hitchhiking... I don't mind being in the office, but I find that I waste a lot of time getting back and forth and I'm more productive at home...

... the local weekly magazine has a real estate section in which there is a separate column for rentals in the settlements. Every week I look there and say - "some day a rental is going to be posted here in one of the religious places, and we're just going to go!" Last Friday a listing appeared for a rental in... Avnei Eitan. 

I saw the house today. It is small. 2 bedrooms, 1 bath in 72 meters. But this little house is situated on 3000 sq. meters, and the view from the back yard is to die for. It is also being completely gutted and redone (although not expanded) so it will be brand new. My new boss is also on the yishuv board. He let me in on the scoop that there will be land available to build on within the next 2 years (the term of the lease on this house) it will not include farm land though. 

What would this all mean? It would mean we have the opportunity to give our dream a try. We'd have two years to live on the yishuv, and have our homestead, we'd have the opportunity to get information on possibly renting farmland once we would decide to build, and we would know the truth about our ability to live our dream. 

So what is the catch? Here's the downside of all this:

1. Living in a smaller place means no guests (although I'm sure neighbors would be willing to host family, and there are also lovely zimmers available for rent)

2. Living outside of Katzerin makes not having a car much more difficult and buying a car now would deplete our "building fund"

3. Living oustide of Katzerin means that we won't be the "absorption center" of Katzerin anymore.

4. We really like our friends here, and our neighbors. Although I can answer this concern, since Katzerin is the "city" of the Golan, we would still be in contact with our friends here and would probably see them fairly often as we would likely be travelling back and forth somewhat regularly. And Avnei Eitan is only 25 minutes from Katzerin, so going visiting is not that big a deal.

How would I handle being so limited in having guests? Even for meals, it would be tight in the space, although for most of the year eating outside is a comfortable option.

I know there are people who live on the yishuv without a car, and just as our current plan is to occasionally rent a car, we could still do that there.

Just when we were starting to feel like we could breathe we are back to feeling completely unsettled! 

My faith is unwavering, I know that everything is from Hashem and on one hand I feel compelled to follow the pretty obvious signs that I'm being given, but doesn't it just seem a little too easy?? Can we really have reached that stage of closeness and connection that our needs would just be handed to us, so very neatly?

My gut is telling me to go with it, make the move and don't look back. "Keep moving forward" as another legendary dreamer once said... So what do you think??? 

There's one more little experience to add to this... this afternoon as I turned all this over in my mind one of the thoughts that came to me was that in the yishuvim there are very few lights at night, so one could sit outside one's house a really see the starts. Katzerin, despite it's relative tininess compared to actual cities, still has a full array of street lights blighting all but the brightest stars and planets. But then I thought, "but come on, how really important is that anyway." About 2 hours ago, the entire city lost power, my kids were already asleep, so I went outside and sat on the bench in front of my house... and looked up at the clear, moonless, cloudless sky. I felt like I was being shown a slice of eternity. Nostalgia for summers camping in Lake George kicked in very strong, and I thought, "if we rent that house, I could do this every night." 

Really useful magic

I know that following my last post, one might think that there is a running theme here, but really this is entirely unrelated. This is something that has been on my mind for a while, probably since my daughter was born 3 years ago. That's when I realized that to juggle motherhood, wifing (apparently, that's a word, since my spell check isn't underlining it!), running a business and staying conscious was going to require a lot more coffee!

Israel is a coffee culture, not like in the NY metro area (where I spent most of my life), where it's mostly "grab n' go." In Israel, it is not uncommon to see a man sitting alone on his porch in the middle of the day, one leg crossed over the other, with a glass (yes, glass) of turkish coffee in his hand. People sit and drink coffee here, whether alone or in small groups. So I fit right in! Although, I grind my coffee and brew it in a filter, and most Israelis will either drink turkish coffee or instant. But I've converted quite a few of my friends to filtered coffee since I've been here.

So now we come to my dilemma. My amazingly wonderful husband usually sets up the coffee maker before he goes to work, so that when I come downstairs, I only have to turn it on. Lately, I've decided to wait to brew my coffee until I get home from dropping Tani and Odeliya off at gan. The routine goes something like this:

I bring Yitzchak inside, he's whining because he wants to nurse. I know that if I sit down and nurse him, he'll fall asleep, but there's no guarantee that he'll let me put him down. I'd love to be able to sit and enjoy my coffe alone, but I'm also not sure I want to wait that long. After a few seconds of internal turmoil over whether to brew or not to brew, I usually decide to brew the coffee, fill my mug and then sit down to nurse.

Inevitably, a few minutes after I've drained the cup, I distractedly pick up my mug to take another sip, and I'm always disappointed to find it empty. I don't want another full cup of coffee, just a few more sips, and it's not like I'm drinking your standard 8-9oz mug, my coffee mugs are all 16 oz!

So if I had one wish, and I know this is pretty pathetic, but it would be that when I brew a cup of coffee it would magically refill itself until I am fully satisfied. Sometimes you just need a good, long cup of joe!

Why do they celebrate Christmas at Hogwarts?

I've been sick with the flu for a week, and while I debated posting a deep spiritual awakening that I experienced... well, I figured I'd start with something a little more light-hearted. Especially since I still feel like my cerebrospinal fluid is solidifying and threatening to cause my skull to explode. (In other words, I still have a pretty bad headache.)

So, on with our post. With all due respect to Ms. Rowling, who I'm sure was less concerned with historical accuracy than with relevance for her audience, but wouldn't it be more appropriate for a castle full of witches and wizards to celebrate Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox? Those were, after all, the original pagan celebrations of the seasons. But more disturbing is the fact that Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Christianity, which was responsible for eradicating anyone who was suspected of magical affiliation, i.e. our lovable young Harry and his delightful little friends, they would have all been mercilessly burned at the stake, their homes and families destroyed by the agents of the religion who's holiday they are celebrating. (sorry for the gruesome imagery, it's the CFS...;-)

Don't get me wrong, Jewish law also deals severely with Jews who dabble in magical arenas, but since the Harry Potter books make no reference to Judaism - except maybe to insinuate that all good Jews practice dentistry... well, anyway, we're just going to keep us out of this particular conversation.

In the meantime, to all you magical beings out there, you should know that I am peeved on your behalf.

Channeling Harry Chapin

You all remember this song, right?



today I watched Netanel take a blank piece of paper and turn it into something that made me cry. First he took a blue crayon and started making a 1 inch wide slab of sky at the top of the page and I knew that the orange triangle of sunshine in the corner would be next, followed by a mirrored green slab at the bottom and some lollipop flowers. I had to do something quck! "Oh! is that blue water?"
He didn't skip a beat, flipped the page over and said, "yes!"
Then there were waves and green seaweed floating and finally, inevitably, the orange glowing triangle in the corner. "What's that?" I asked
"The sun."
"Oh, what other colors are in sun?"
He reached for yellow, and red, and we even put some dark blue around the edge and then some more red and orange...
What happened to my Tani and his free expression?! Why have we not learned how to educate our children without extinguishing their creative spirit? Why is it impossible to differentiate between the paintings and drawings of any child in a kindergarten class?

I want a different life for my children than the one I have. A life where anything is possible, where creativity is rewarded and linear analytical thinking is not the only way to solve a problem.

One morning I watched him do a matching activity with the teacher. He had a card with 6 fish tails on it and you had to find the fish that matched the tails. He took in all six images and began pulling matches out of the box, but the teacher made him put them back and go in order. I wanted to cry. He does not have to do them in order! He does not have to change the way he naturally solves that problem! I'm not saying that we shouldn't offer children other ways of finding solutions, but we have to encourage their own natural abilities and ways of thinking.

Because there are so many colors in the rainbow! But who sees them anymore? How can anyone fix the problems with education when we are all products of the education system we are seeking to change?

When does Hashem rest?

I've been trying to make time to say morning prayers with Netanel this week, since he's been home. Although I spend most of my day praying - which is to say that I am constantly asking for guidance and help, and saying thank you, etc,... I haven't been very diligent lately about saying any canonized prayers. So it's been a nice opportunity for me too.

This morning I stood up for a part of the Tefilla and Netanel actually lay down on the couch.
"Netanel," says I, "you shouldn't lay down when your davening, it's not respectful to Hashem."
"Why not?" retorts Netanel.
"Well who are we saying these things to? Hashem is all around us all time, right?" Tani nods. He's sitting up now. "Hashem is the power that creates the world, that guides our lives, and gives us everything we need, and when we say tefillot, we are putting ourselves into Hashem's presence to ask for all that we need and want."
"Mommy, but when does Hashem rest?" He asked. I understand the question! I mean, that sounds like a lot of work!
"On Shabbat," I answered. "Right? On the seventh day, Hashem rests. And so do we."

And then the epiphany happened. On Shabbat, we not only rest physically by not doing things that are considered work. (The list is pretty specific, which is why I used that particular wording.) We are also commanded to refrain from speaking or even thinking about non-Shabbat related things. Like business, or what we want to do or accomplish in the coming week, or even sports. We 're not even supposed to request anything from Hashem on Shabbat! The main prayer, called the "Amida" is completely different on Shabbat, instead of the normal 19 supplications, there are none. Only praise and thanks. On Shabbat we reconnect with our Soul, that little part of Godliness that exists within us.
So I answer Netanel's innocent question, and I'm thinking, "Oh, Duh!" Hashem "works" all the time for us. Listening to our prayers, ordering the world so that we can achieve our desires, and fulfill our purpose. But on Shabbat, Hashem is resting, recuperating, and reconnecting with Creation, just as we are reconnecting with our Creator.

So, no, we should not be talking about business, about stocks, about movies, or plans for the week. We should not be thinking about the activities and requirements of the week to come, because aside from detracting from the spiritual nature of the day, it actually disturbs God's rest! Anthropomorphically speaking, of course, when we make requests of our Creator, even in the form of dreaming about our heart's desires, that essentially causes Hashem to "work" to answer those requests.

So thanks to Netanel, in an hour, when Shabbat starts, I'll be much more sensitive to what it means to have a Day of Rest. And I can't wait!

And now, to end the war...

Presumptuous? Perhaps... 

 

This morning the kids were fighting. Odeliya started it, Netanel hit back. 

Me: Guys, stop fighting and get dressed! 

Netanel: But she hurt me! 

Me: You don't hurt people because they hurt you, you find a way to make them stop hurting you!

Epiphany! Isn't that the misconception of the century?!

 

How do I make this stick? We are training our future here, right? I mean Israeli kids know that they're going to serve in the army when they turn 18. My son, despite spending the first 4 years of his life with almost zero exposure to violence (via movies, toys, etc) has always wanted to be a soldier. I remember him taking bites out of his slice of cheese to make a gun - at age 3! At the time, he didn't even know what comes out of a gun, or what happens to the person on the other side of it, and not only that, he only knew what it was at all from seeing other kids pretending to have guns.

Now when he plays at being a soldier or a super hero, fighting "bad guys" we always ask him who they are, why they're bad, and why he needs to fight them. Part of the reason is because we want to know what he's hearing from the people around him, and part of it is because we want to instill him with an understanding of the thin - sometimes vanishing - line between good and bad, especially when it comes to war. When we ask him those questions, we keep it light and we never give him answers, just get him to think about the question. 

Trying to annihilate the "fighter" in him, in my opinion, would be folly. I believe it would backfire, because it is something that is obviously in his essence. So we look for ways to foster it and contain it so that he will have the tools to make good choices. 

And who really knows? Maybe the Creator saw fit to put this flame inside our son for a reason. His personality is so complex and amazing - even at 5! You'll just as likely find him playing fighting games as you will find him playing Daddy to his dolls. This is the same child who, at age 3.5 gave up his hard-won balloon to a friend who's balloon had flown away. He gave it to him because he understood, empathetically how his friend felt to not be able to show his classmates the balloon from his brothers' brit. And I'm not just saying that. 

 

Digressing for a moment, I will relate that story:

When Netanel was in nursery in NJ, we went to the brit of friends who's son was in kindergarten, we'll call him David. David left his brother's brit with another friend of ours, we'll call her Shana (;-) who took David and her own son to school. A few minutes later, we left too. We were 5 minutes to school when Shana called to ask if we'd left yet because David's balloon had blown away as they were walking into school and he was devastated. I said we'd left, but I'll see what I could do.
I looked at my little Netanel in the rearview mirror, clutching the string of his balloon, and thought, "what have I got to lose? He doesn't have to give it up, but if he does we can make this kid really happy." I decided to tread lightly, I had no reason to force him to give up his balloon.
"Tani, David's balloon flew away and he's so sad, would you like to give him your balloon?"
Obvious answer, "No, it's mine"
"You know, Netanel, David was so excited to bring his balloon to his class and tell all his friends about his brother's brit! Isn't that so exciting?!"
"uh huh."
"He got out of Shana's car and he was so excited and we was going to bring his balloon in to show his Morah and all his friends! And then you know what happened?"
"What, Mommy?"
"His balloon flew away! How do you think he's feeling now?"
"Sad." I could hear the frown  in his voice.
"Do you know what would make him so happy?"
"What, Mommy?"
"If someone could give David a new balloon, that would make him so happy! And he would be able to show everyone how proud he is to be a new big brother!" (Netanel's experience with that was also pretty recent)
"Mommy, David could have my balloon!" tears welled up in my eyes when I heard him say that.
"Really, Netanel, are you sure? Because that would be such a wonderful chesed (= kind act) and it would make him so happy!"
"Yes, Mommy. I can give David my balloon and he will be so happy."

Well, you know it paid off! He was the hero of the day! The look on David's face was absolutely priceless when Netanel walked into the room and handed him the balloon.The kindergarten teacher gave him a cookie, and his nursery teachers also made a big deal about it - and to boot, he actually got the balloon back at the end of the day!!! Talk about having your cake and eating it too!

But the point of the story is to illustrate Netanel's capacity for compassion and empathy.

 

Maybe he is intended to fight - but if that's the case, then we're going to do whatever we can to foster that compassion. So I got my chance to reinforce it.
 

On the way to gan this morning, Netanel picked up a stick - his sword - to fight the "bad guys". 

Me: Netanel, who are the "bad guys'?

N: I don't know. Just bad guys. we need to fight them.

Me: why?

N: because they're bothering us.

Me: Like Odeliya bothered you this morning.

--Silence.
Me: Do remember what I told you this morning, when you kicked her back?

Netanel nods.

Me: Netanel, you want to be a leader in the army, right? 

N: No! I want to be a fighter.

Me: The commanders are the best fighters, that's how they get to be leaders. When someone is hurting you, if you just try to hurt them back you're going to be fighting forever. What you need to do is find a way to make them stop hurting you. In the army, sometimes the only way to do that means that people get hurt, but not always.

And in your life, Netanel, it's never ok. With Odeliya, with kids in gan - because they're not bad guys! Right? (he nods. he's dragging his stick on the floor at the point.) Is you're sister a "bad guy"?

N: No.

Me: what about the kids in your gan?

N: no.

Me: so when they hurt you, or bother you, the answer is not to hurt them back, what's the answer?

N: To get them to stop hurting me.

Me: right. Netanel, if you can show us that you understand that, if you can find a way to resolve these fights without hurting anyone, then you can be the best fighter in the army.

I don't know how much he grasped, but it's a start.

Birth and healing (a journal entry)

I've been avoiding my birth boards, and birth, and myself for more than six months. If healing has happened for me, it has been passive - like the way your body heals from a cold if you ignore it long enough,and then one morning two weeks later you realize you slept all night and you're not congested at all.

In the past two weeks Birth has hunted me down, forced me to remember her and remember how much I once loved her. And also how vicious she can be. How subvertivly she injects her precepts into every other chapter of your life. She found me, I cowered and she insisted that I watch. That I be present and informed and that I bear witness to her beauty and her ugliness, her silence and her fury, her undying strength and her paralyzing fear.

I watched, I advised, I conferred, and I wept.

And now I know that there is an active part that I must play in my healing - and I must take this step. Today it was shown to me that I am at the hub of a network of people that need to be connected and that the butterfly effect that I pray will ensue can affect real, tangible change for women giving birth here in Israel.

I'm putting this here in the hope that getting these thoughts out will be a step towards making them a reality. I know I'm being ambiguous, but that's because it's still ambiguous to me. And it feels too big to put into words. But this purpose has filled me the way water fills every crevice of space in its container, the way it will even defy gravity to fill in each crack. As I find the words, I will share them. But for now I feel I have taken a necessary step just by writing this down.

The Olives that Irked Me

On the way to Odeliya's day care there is this one house that has a small grove of olive tree that hang over onto the path. As the olive harvest began back in Sept, the kids started to notice the olives ripening on the trees and I pointed out that soon the owners would harvest their olives and they can pickle them or press them into oil. (The local olive oil factory will actually press your olives for you!) But as the olives continued to ripen, and we started noticing more and more olives on the ground, I started to get annoyed.

It is a fact that this year's olive harvest was particularly slim - olive oil prices here have gone up because of it, and here's a family with enough olives for maybe 2-3 liters of oil and they're letting it rot! They are going to go to the supermarket and buy bottles of olive oil and cans of pickles olives, instead of harvesting their bounty! And now there's fewer bottles on the shelf for people like me that don't have the privilege of having olive trees!

We talk about depletion and lack - there is no lack in the Universe! Hashem's bounty is abundant! But we are lacking in our self-preservation, because we think that the things we use come from the store. We forget where the things we need really originate - and that's in the Earth.

I remember one Sunday back in the US (when Sundays were a day off!) when Yoram was putting up shelves and needed more wood. So Netanel, then barely 3 years old, said, "So we need to go to Home Depot to get more!" I asked him, "Netanel, where does the wood come from?" and he answered, "Home Depot." At which point we educated him on lumber and the process of turning trees into shelves. We watched videos online and looked at books, and now he knows that wood comes from trees.

I think we all need to take a step back and remember where the things we buy come from and the work that goes into putting it there. Before I buy something from the store, I ask myself if this is something that I could conceivably make on my own. And if the answer is yes, then I do.And I'll leave that product on the shelf for someone who can't conceivably make it on their own.

New Revelations On Winnie-the-Pooh

I love having a blog! It's this wonderful place where I can put all my random thoughts and revelations and serendipitous moments where they don't need to be at all cohesive or have anything at all to do with each other. :-)

I've always been somewhat bothered by the fact that all the characters in the Winnie-the-Pooh stories are male, except Kanga - the sweet, doting, overprotective in her words but not in her actions... (I am speaking not from the Disney interpretation of the stories, but the original A.A. Milne books.) Well, this morning I had a thought about that. Mr. Milne wrote these books for his son, Christopher Robin. He wrote them as a memorial to him, and to express the world in a way that would appeal to a little boy. Well then it makes perfect sense. As I thought about how my children engender their stuffed animals and dolls.

It's important to note that both Yoram and I are very aware of not masculinating or feminizing our children. Netanel's baby doll, which is a Cabbage Patch doll that my IL's bought him and wheres a pink and purple sleeper, is a boy baby named (affectionately) Uncle Hillel. Uncle Hillel (the doll, not my brother) has super powers to fight bad guys.
Odeliya will pick up just about anything small (seeds, sticks, dolls, bouncy balls, toy cars, etc...) and wrap it in the nearest blanket, napkin, tissue... and cradle it and call it her baby.

So in my limited experience, I would think that A.A. Milne, writing for Christopher Robin would imagine all his toys to be male. And in his make-believe world there would only be one female. The loving, doting, kangaroo momma, a depiction of his own wife, and CR's mother - embodied in Kanga.

That's my totally random thought for the day!