For the Home

He had no doubts, he had no questions; he had the most beautiful emunah p'shuta and perhaps, as a small reward, Zaidy was able to see the revelation of G-dliness in this world.

As my husband reminded me as I meticulously folded bags into neat little packages over the last three months to hoard them for future use, the fact that bags will no longer be free in stores doesn’t mean that they won’t be available.

Much has been written about how amazing it is to marry off a child, including articles by moi on the topic.

Given the subject matter, it seems appropriate for this cookbook to open with a chapter on food safety since giving your family food poisoning by feeding them spoiled ingredients is definitely something to be avoided.

As the chat pinged back and forth, a few suggestions arose that seemed worthy of a spot in the obssessives hall of fame.

The number one way to avoid many of the typical challenges that could delay a child’s success and growth in the coming years is by utilizing a well-thought out routine.

In Israel, there is a growing pushback against publications that erase women.

Summer is just about upon us, and with it comes the hustle and bustle of preparing for camp and family getaways. This is such a wonderful time, full of new experiences and memory building for the whole family. One memory the summer shouldn’t create, however, is that of the house being infested with bedbugs.

In my circles, manning the barbeque is traditionally a male job, but there is a lot more to a successful barbeque than dropping the meat onto the grill.

Make a list of all the things you must do today, number them in order of how much you detest them, and then do the first one on the list first.

This past Lag B'Omer, we were blessed to make our first upsherin, where we celebrate our son’s first hair cut. It’s a wonderful milestone that mimics the three years that we refrain from plucking a tree’s first fruits and symbolizes the entry of the child into the world of Torah learning. It’s a clear sign to everyone; this boy is no longer a baby.

Yom Tov is about spending time with your family. And while for some families the big once-in-a-lifetime experience is great, for others something low key is the way to go.

Either bring blankets from home or get from the flight attendants. Bring sweatshirts for added coziness as the blankets are sure to fall off.

The idea of breathing new life into something you already own, using leftover bits and pieces as springboards for future projects, is probably a tendency to which I am genetically inclined

But how to get sleep when you just can’t relax enough or find yourself waking up at random times during the night?

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Let’s face it, no matter how hard you try, sometimes a gift just misses the mark, and I confess this has happened to me more than once.

Not that I am in any way trying to rush Pesach out the door, but once it is time to get back to reality, it makes sense to streamline the turnover as much as possible.

So often, when it comes to furniture in a home with children, there is a tug of war between functionality and beauty. Either get the industrial strength dining chairs that are ugly but never stain, or the elegant chairs that will force you to exercise your vocal cords all the time. There are those, of course, who get the beautiful chairs and cover them with industrial strength plastic, but they're not fooling anyone. I personally prefer the happy children.

The toys, bookcases and drawers in china closet are simple jobs and can be delegated to children. Have them divide the items into keep, throw out and donate.

Perhaps we can teach our children to give, instead of take... to become contributing members of the community.

We survived the week so well that no one in my family ever realized they were living through my planned experiment.

Everyone has a weakness. For some people it is the inability to walk past a sales rack without dropping a few hundred dollars. For others, it’s the inability to keep their house organized.

Of course, before you even start the party, you will probably want to make sure that your house is guest-ready, which means tackling those unpleasant cleaning jobs that we all try our best to ignore.

However, as soon as the tickets are booked, the next big question is: who can watch the children?

Last month, I discussed our tumuloutous family trip to Israel and the many mistakes and some smart moves we made along the way. Hopefully you can learn from our mistakes and incorporate the lessons we learned in your own family trips.