Photo Credit: Nati Shohat/FLASH90
Sha'ar Shechem (Damascus Gate) at the Old City of Jerusalem.
As Hashem has got you covered with snow on the ground, we here at the Short Vort have got you covered to help prevent your children from getting in your face.
Ten Things To Do When You (and your children) are Stuck at Home

  1. Time to start cleaning for Pesach. Take advantage of your time at home to start organizing your Pesach cleaning schedule.
  2. Bake cookies with the kids. Everyone loves home-baked cookies; today is a perfect day. Gather all your kids around the kitchen table and have everyone participate in the baking process. This is a wonderful bonding project.
  3. Learn Torah. A great time to catch up on those Torah subjects you always wanted to learn but never had the time.
  4. Sleep. Take a nap in the day; catch up on the hour sleep you missed this past Motzei Shabbos.
  5. Make hot cocoa and bring some over to your next door neighbor. Today could be the day that you and your neighbor finally had the time to connect.
  6. Call someone who would really appreciate your call. Think about someone who is shut-in the house and is alone; give them a call. They will be thrilled.
  7. Make a list of five Chessed activities which you can do specifically today. Perhaps shovel your elderly neighbor’s walk? Think of five things and write them down.
  8. Spend time alone with each child who is home. Take each child aside and give them their own private quality time.
  9. Daven quietly and slowly without feeling the rush of having to catch the train or bus.
  10. Look out the window and appreciate and realize how great Hashem is. If HE can transform our entire world overnight into a white-wintery-wonder-world, He certainly can bring the Geulah in the same way!

A Few Things Not to Do!

  1. Don’t allow your kids to play, “Find the snowball”. This game, which involves hiding ten snowballs at various places in the house, can have very unpleasant results. Last time my kids played it I found a melted snow-puddle under my pillow.
  2. Don’t get angry. No matter how many times your kids forget to take off their boots when they enter the house and track snow all over… don’t get mad!
  3. Don’t waste time. Remember, today is a time for doing something you normally cannot do. Don’t waste the time!

Enjoy Your Day!

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Rabbi Ron Yitzchok Eisenman is rav of Congregation Ahavas Israel in Passaic, New Jersey. His book, “The Elephant in the Room,” is available either directly from the author or at Amazon.com