The Israeli Teacher Who’s Inspired 19 Million on Facebook (2-Minute Tissue-Alert Video)
A reminder just how life-altering our words can be to a child. Thank you to Sarah Lerner for sharing this moving video with me so I could share it with you.
Read MoreIf You Don’t Feel Pretty, Watch This (2-Minute Inspirational Video)
The other day I ran into my neighbor, a single mother, but I didn’t recognize her, since she was wearing a nice shoulder-length sheitl instead of her usual headscarf. She even had on some makeup, unusual for her. “You look great! Are you going to a wedding?” I asked. “No,” she responded, with a smile, […]
Read MoreThings You Should Never Say to Yourself
The following simple yet ingenious advice appears in Laura Doyle’s book Things Will Get as Good as You Can Stand. Words I hope one day to live by! “Today my rule is not to say anything to myself–even silently–that I wouldn’t say to a friend. “It sounds simple, but the implications of that rule are […]
Read MoreMy Miserable Mothering Afternoon (10-Minute Mommy Peptalk)
Rethinking what makes a good mother.
Read MoreWombs
This week, Rabbanit Yemima was talking about wombs. In Hebrew, she pointed out, the word for compassion, Rachamim, is always plural. The plural of womb, or wombs. And that is what she thinks of when she thinks of compassion, she told us. She thinks of dozens, hundreds, thousands of wombs, one next to the other. […]
Read MoreWhy Did the Old Man Give Me His Seat on the Light Rail?
This morning, on the light rail, a bareheaded man who appeared to be around 70 stood up to give me his seat. In Israel (and maybe everywhere), there are iron-clad social norms regarding who gives up their seat for whom on public transportation. People give up their seats for 3 categories of human beings: pregnant […]
Read MoreMy Ridiculous Thoughts
This morning, on my way to Yaakov’s gan, I saw an older woman. 70-ish, with wrinkles and a cane. And I thought, “I am turning 45 next month. Before I know it, I will be all wrinkled and hobbling like her” Then I saw an obese woman who was wearing the exact same boots as […]
Read MoreThomas Edison’s Mother (1-Minute Inspirational Video)
This video brings tears to my eyes every time I watch it. What a powerful reminder of the impact of a mother’s words and belief in her child.
Read MoreHealing from Disappointment (6-Minute Mommy Peptalk)
Author Elizabeth Gilbert shares how we can cope with failure by “coming home.”
Read MoreMy Sleepyhead Daughter Miracle
In honor of Rosh Hodesh Kislev (or, as Yaakov calls it, “Rosh Chodesh Sufgania”) I wanted to share a big parenting miracle which happened to me this very week. First of all, some background. Last year, my old friend Sarah Greenberg highly recommended that I learn about a certain approach to parenting (known in Israel […]
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