I’ve found that the holidays are an ideal time to settle down with my family and make the most of time. We go to family services, have family dinners, celebrate with children’s events, connect with extended family members and make it a point to step outside of the patterns of daily life. We take time off of work, we stay home from school and we spend time together, celebrating each other, the holidays and our culture. My husband & I always close out Yom Kippur with a renewed pride in and connection to our religious lives.

My resolution for this year (why wait till January?) is to hang onto that feeling. To extend our Jewish connection beyond the fall – to go to tot Shabbat, to engage in the Open Tent’s kids activities and to make Judaism and more regular part of our family life – and time.

As our daughter turns two and our community web stretches to new limits, I’ve started to think about my role in the communities I belong to. Am I the active PTA mom? The super organized park mom? The on-the-ball mommy and-me-mom? One community I’ve been delighted to find myself a part of is the Jewish parenting community. Becoming a mother has strengthened my Jewish identity in surprising ways.

It’s supremely important to me that our daughters have a rich understanding of our Jewish heritage. So we do Seder collectively, even if it means eating yogurt from a highchair before we’ve blessed the matzah. And we visit tot Shabbat as regularly as possible, even if it’s just to hear the music. And we read Jewish books even if all our toddlers see is stars and candles.

And, perhaps most relevant today, we participate in as many Shalom Tots programs as possible. We’ve had opportunities to make challah, create Shema pillowcases, participate in Shabbat dinners and much more. Shalom Tots is a wonderfully easy and engaging way to tap into your Jewish community. For more info about the ongoing program (sessions resume in the fall) please click here or email info@theopentent.org; to see what experiences others are saying click here; and to catch up on previous tots posts click here.

Looking forward to seeing you soon!

Would I be ready to handle the emergency if my daughter stopped breathing?  Wouldn’t I do anything to be prepared to keep my toddler safe?

It’s scary to think about my little girl unable to breathe.  I would feel frightened if she were choking and needed rescue breathing.  But, knowing that I can get the training, practice, and certification to handle the situation does assure me that I’m doing the best I can for her.

Here’s a wonderful opportunity — the Shalom Tots program (sponsored by The Open Tent) has arranged a fully certified and convenient training session for us moms and dads with toddlers.  By popular request, this training is also open to grandparents and other caregivers.

Please join me (and my husband) on Wednesday, April 14th (this upcoming week!) for this safety program — an excellent skill builder (and/or refresher).

The instructor will be coming to us at Temple Beth Sholom <http://www.tbsmb.org/contactus/>  (2nd floor activity room – 4144 Chase Ave. Miami Beach, FL 33140 ) at 7:00pm.  The suggested fee is $25 per person, or, $40 for two adults.  Feel free to use cash, check or credit card.  Payment can be made in advance (to hold your spot) or at the event — whichever is most convenient for you.

RSVPs are recommended!  Email Ashley at totscoordinator@gmail.com with “Attending CPR session” in the subject or body of your message. Also, check out our other upcoming Shalom Tots sessions.

For more information or if you have questions, please email our fantastic Shalom Tots program coordinator.

I hope to see you there!

I recently joined the Open Tent’s discussion group for the Blessing of a Skinned Knee, though I first started reading and reflecting on this most interesting text when my daughter Orli was born 22 months ago.  For those of you that haven’t read it, the book is written by a mother/therapist/teacher that has undertaken a spiritual journey of sorts to find relevant solutions to raising children in today’s world using Jewish teachings.

During our first chat, all of us moms got a chance to voice a particular challenge that we are having in our own homes.  Some talked about completing homework, some talked about shyness, and I talked about sleep!  My fiery little one has gotten into the unfortunate habit of waking and calling for me every day between 5:30 and 6am.  ”Mommy, leche! (milk in spanish)  Moooommmmmmmyyyyyy!” is all I hear until I stumble in there, bleary eyed and slightly annoyed, preaching to her about the value of sleep and the need to stay in bed until dawn (which she obviously does not care to hear).

After this session, I went home determined to find a new tactic for dealing with this early waking behavior.  Someone had recently told me about a stoplight clock that is parent-programmed – a red light shines all night until the desired wake-up time, at which point it turns to green.  There is no noise, so if the toddler happens to still be asleep at, say, 7am, it will not wake him/her.  I went on the prowl and found an adorable clock online [can we add this stoplight sleep enhancing clock on amazon to our astore and hotlink to it here??], complete with a little girl in a convertible car with a butterfly on the side, and had it shipped express.

When the package arrived, we sat down together and explored the new toy.  I demonstrated the red and green lights, and explained that she couldn’t call for me and ask for her bottle until the green light came on.  (It’s ok to wake up and even play quietly in her room, but no yelling.)  We are now 5 nights in – and she has waited until 7am for 4 of 5 of these nights!   The first morning, instead of “Mommy leche!” I heard “Light?  Mommy, light!”  It was like music – I haven’t woken up with such a bounce in my step in a long time.

This experience was a valuable lesson not only for me, Mommy, but for Orli as well.  She is giving me a little sanity to wake up and have a cup of tea or a little cereal before our day begins, and she is learning how to tell when it is time to get up.  She is also being given the freedom to play on her own until I come to her, which I always do.  Now I’m just a little more rested (at least for the next 5 weeks until the new baby is born).  :)

Before Sydney, my husband and I were “twice a year” temple people – Rosh Hashanah & Yom Kippur. We celebrated Passover with our extended families and lit Chanukah candles with our nephews before digging into mounds of gifts. I think we spent a total of 10 hours max at temple in 2007.

Lately, things seem to have changed. Sydney and I visit temple weekly for interactive (albeit non-religious) mommy & me classes; I happily sit on the tots committee of the Open Tent; and I’ve been asked to write this first tots blog post. Over the past year, my husband and I have participated in Mitzvah Day and committed to attending Tot Shabbat and regular Open Tent activities at the Miami Children’s Museum. Rabbi Pomerantz is now in my address book. We’ve met wonderful families and learned a ton about introducing Judaism into our homes. We’ve lit menorahs, blessed challah and had our first Seder with Sydney.

Perhaps most importantly, we’ve begun to incorporate religion into our regular existence. It’s not something we think about twice a year anymore. Judaism doesn’t dominate our lives or dictate our weekends, but we are continuously enjoying the cultural and religious aspects of being Jews in 2009 in Miami – Shabbat on the Beach, matzah pizza making with Chef Michael Jacobs, family outings with new friends and more. We look forward to many more experiences throughout the year and hope you join us!