Monday, October 28, 2013

The Circle Line Halloween Kids Cruise!

On Saturday October 26th, the kids and I had the pleasure of attending an awesome Halloween Kids Cruise by the Circle Line!

There was a balloon artist, a face painter, a magician, and a band on board the boat.



Samara was excited about the face painter. She requested to become a mermaid. 


Here she is with her mermaid face and tail!


While we were waiting in line to get her face painted, the magician showed us some cool card tricks. 



This is our friend Liam (who we met on the cruise) getting his face painted into a scary pumpkin!



Liam was visiting New York all the way from London. 

All the kids on the boat got to dance to the sounds of Baze and His Silly Friends! Baze and His Silly Friends is an awesome kids band from New Jersey. They were dressed for the occasion like pirates.



 We liked their music so much, that Samara requested a CD. 


One of our favorite songs was a jam that combined the popular nursery rhymes and had all the kiddos rocking out. 

And let's remember the best part of being on a boat: looking out on the water!




The kids and I had an awesome time on board. 

Thank you to the Circle Line for an awesome Halloween Kids Cruise!*


*This is a sponsored post for the Circle Line. All opinions expressed are my own. 

Thursday, October 24, 2013

"Can Jewish Women Have it All?"

Tonight I had the opportunity to speak at the JCC of Greater New Haven on the topic of "Can Jewish Women Have it All?"

I was joined by Rabbi Rona Shapiro, two wonderful female Jewish authors, Blu Greenberg and Michelle Cove, Rabbi Leah Cohen, and Doris Zelinsky, former CEO of Country Home Bakers.

I was truly honored to be surrounded by such well accomplished women in the Jewish community and to have a chance to share in their thoughts about whether or not Jewish women could "have it all."




Before I got to the JCC I had prepared what I would speak about. Once I began to hear the other brilliant women on this panel speak, my ideas shifted and changed. I was inspired by what ideas these women of varying ages and career backgrounds brought to the table.

I am excited to read Blu and Michelle's books!

Special shout out to DeDe Jacobs-Komisar for inviting me to speak on this panel. You're awesome!

Oh! And here's my answer to the question, can Jewish women have it all? You can have whatever is important to you and what you set your mind to have. It's a matter of realizing what you value and love in your life and going for it!

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Stop! - Ari Speaks Up

When I picked up Ari today, one of the paras approached me. A para is someone who works one on one with a child who has special needs.

"I wanted to let you know that Ari came up to me on the playground today and let me know that a group of kids were hitting Bryan.**  He said that Bryan was telling them to stop and they weren't listening. They asked him to hit Bryan too, but instead he said he wanted to tell a teacher."

She said that she was able to stop the kids from hitting Bryan and she thanked Ari for telling her. I, in turn thanked her for telling me the story.

I was glad that Ari spoke up. I was so proud of him, and I told him so.

I can only hope that if one day Ari is in Bryan's position, another kid speaks up for him.

**Not his real name

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Circle Line Halloween Kids Cruise - 10/26/13 NYC!

Halloween is approaching and The Circle Line Kids Cruise is prepared to celebrate! Bring your kids on board the Halloween Kids Cruise on Saturday 10/26/13 at 10am and make sure to come in costume. Want to hear more? Here's Lindsey Guinn from Circle Line with the scoop:

Sunday, October 6, 2013

The Box Game


Today a tradition was passed down. Many elementary school children have learned this ancient practice over the years. It was time that Ari learned The Box Game.

For those of you who don't know The Box Game, it works like this: 

Each player draws one line at a time between two dots. The object is to make a box. When you get a box, you draw your first initial inside to claim it. 

Ari now knows the sacred tradition of The Box Game.






Friday, October 4, 2013

Motherhood Comes Naturally (and other vicious lies) - By Jill Smokler -AKA Scary Mommy - A Review

"You'll sleep more when the kids get older."
"Parenting strengthens a marriage."
"It gets easier!"
"It's just a phase."
"Parents have all the answers."

These are some of the lies that people innocently (or not so innocently) offer to new parents to make them feel better about parenthood. Jill Smokler debunks these statements in her book: Motherhood Comes Naturally (and other vicious lies). 


I loved reading this book. I was laughing or nodding internally with each page. I have my own confession to make, I actually sat my children in front of the TV several times so that I could sneak away to my bedroom to read. That's how good it is. 

So if those statements above aren't true, then what is?

Motherhood is never sleeping because every hour one of these things happens:
1. A child climbs into your bed.
2. Your kid is sleeping in your bed and kicks you in the face.
3. Your other child peed on herself and needs to be changed. 
4. Your husband is snoring so loudly through all of this that you want to murder him. 

Motherhood Comes Naturally (and other vicious lies) makes moms feel sane. It makes you feel less guilty for wanting to pee in peace or being annoyed by your kids because they want something and you just want to take a nap.

One of my favorite parts of the book is entitled "Five Hours in The Life of a Stay at Home Mom."
Here are some of the things that occur within this time period:
"5:24 Get kicked in the face by toddler"
"5:31 Get kicked in the thigh by toddler"
"8:19 Enter grocery store find bananas, coffee, and Advil." P. 121-123 Motherhood Comes Naturally (and other vicious lies). 

This book would make an awesome baby shower gift or a present for an already experienced mom who knows what's up. 

Without further ado, I will pass this book on to my dear friend Lea Grover over at Becoming Super Mommy. She won it during a chat session on OS/NS Mom! 

So what are you waiting for go read Jill's book! You will laugh your ass off!