Night Camp... Say What?

RING, RING...

ME: Hello?

HER: Hi, my name is [who knows?] and I am making a night camp for girls going into 4th and 5th grades.

ME: A Night camp?

HER: Yes, night camp. From 6:30-8 pm.

ME: No thank you, we have bedtime.

Am I crazy? Night camp so my child can be out later than her bedtime or perhaps get home right before she is expected to go to sleep? We have bedtime and we wind down before it. A child who is in a full summer camp program is exhausted at the end of the day. I cannot imagine sending Arielle to night camp so she will be even more exhausted.

On top of that, at 6:30 I am home alone with 4 kids. Even if I wanted to send my eldest to night camp, the younger 3 have to take baths, get in to pajamas, brush teeth and get songs and stories for their 7 pm bedtimes. How could I even consider dropping everything to drive Arielle to night camp?

You may say this program is good for some parents. Maybe they don't have bedtimes, younger siblings, spouses that work late, dinner to prepare (did I mention that I have to cook dinner?)... I just don't know who the market is for this particular program.

NEVER MIND how upset I am about the fact that the school must be distributing class lists because I get calls throughout the year about this camp and that camp for kids just my child's age... HOW DO THEY KNOW?

I will tell you that I have benefited from these camps in the past such as on Jewish fast days and between camp and school, etc. I still resent the fact that the school is giving out proprietary information to local teenagers.

So, I will not be sending any children to night camp. But thanks for calling!

Testing: Stay at Home Mom

The last time I wrote here I was gainfully employed and relishing in what I considered to be a very successful 2013. A lot has transpired since then. On Dec 31, I lost my job and was thrown into the world of SAHMs aka stay-at-home-moms.

I have never been a stay-at-home-mom before. I was excited to test it out: to stay home with my 2 year old daughter Siri, to be home when the older kids got home from school, to be calm for homework, dinner and bedtime and to finally tackle all those pesky home organizing projects!

Here are a few key lessons I learned during this time:

1. Loading and unloading a toddler into the car makes every trip take double the time. DUH! I still enjoyed getting out and bringing Siri with me but of course my errands took longer (including carpool).

2. Laundry is never finished and can consume your life. Especially when there are 6 of you! I still have baskets to put away.

3. Homework and bedtime is never stress-free even if you were home all day long!

4. SAHMs are busy, which of course I knew already. There is never a dull moment and the only time you have to accomplish anything is during baby's nap time. But you want to nap too!

5. The home organizing projects are endless and you cannot even tackle many of them because you can only work during baby's naptime (see #4 above) and laundry is never finished (see #2 above).

6. I now fully understand the feeling of upending routine and the uneasiness that comes along with it. Children are affected by this and express anxiety in various ways. Adults are affected too, but it is perhaps more subtle. We all had to adjust to a new situation and new routines.

7. Dinner can be ready on time if I am home!

8. Doctors' appointments and quick errands are SO much easier when I can go during the day. It is much easier to have a flexible schedule during the week. It also makes the weekends calmer.


I am grateful for the opportunity to spend more time with my children and to be able to appreciate my time at home. It has really been a blessing and I look forward to working on a brand new endeavor (coming soon!) that will allow me to continue to be available for my children and my home.

2013

My 2013 was full of family and friends. I strengthened relationships and worked hard to maintain treasured friendships.

I made time for the important things in my life including my beautiful children of course. I watched them mature and grow into real kids. They are no longer my babies. Okay, the two year old is still a baby but she talks and babbles and plays like the others.

In 2013 I resolved to eat healthier, exercise more, and take care of myself. It's a work in progress but I'm proud to say that I am already seeing positive results.

This year I organized some of my home. I established lunch and dinner schedules for my children, routines for homework, and special storage systems for toys, shoes, and knapsacks that make life simpler.

I focused on giving, welcoming a guest into our home when she needed a place to stay. I believe my experience taught my children what it really means to help others and share what we have.

My family enjoyed the outdoors for three days of camping and activities. We would have been better off without sleeping in the rain! 

Professionally, I am proud to say that I planned a $3.5 million fundraising event replete with shtick - a red carpet and a flash mob! It was a real hit.

I launched jCreate, an online Jewish crafting community along with my good friends Abbey Wolin and Mirel Goldwasser. I might have participated in one too many Google hangouts. But the work has paid off!

I joined the world of snapchat and obsessed over the selfies. I got to share a lot more with my cousin and her adorable dog Marty.

I hosted several birthday parties, attended many more, and enjoyed the holidays with family.

There is so much to be thankful for and my year has been very busy and fulfilling. I'm looking forward to greeting 2014!