"Take me out to the ballgame, take me out to the park. Buy me some peanuts and crackerjacks. I don't care if I never come back." We got back around mid-night. What a day!
Dad has made a smiley face breakfast for David. Don't worry, this does not mean dad has gone all emoticon on us. This is what it takes to get this little man to eat in a timely manner so we can actually get him to school.
You may be wondering what does that smiley face consist of.
Well I will tell you - but be prepared this is California.
OJ is OJ right - no - this is tangerine juice, organic, the works.
Look carefully and under the grapes and strawberries (also organic) you will see little squares. What the heck could that be. Tofu.
Yes the little man, thanks to Google daycare, loves tofu. So what does dad do to make sure he has plenty of protein in the morning and will have the stamina to learn throughout the day (or at least through his morning lessons) - he fries up fresh tofu, pats down the canola oil, and quietly places it under the strawberries as a sort of place mat of sorts.
Now the piece de resistance.
I tell him not to eat it. "Don't eat that smile." Sure enough - off it goes. "Don't eat his face" and the pancake (with an egg in it - egg whites excuse me) also disappears.
This is how we get the little man to eat a healthy breakfast that will sustain him through the morning and on time for school.
Did they tell you this is what being a dad is about when you were growing up? No worries he is still a blast, full of joy (and endlessly distracted by life).
Consider this a note to file - under little things we don't even notice anymore but are an important part of growing up in a family.
I was working in the study while David was practicing piano and suddenly I heard him playing the Israeli national anthem in the background. I stood up and walked over to watch him and listen to him play.
What a wonderful surprise to hear my son playing Hatikvah - filling the house with a song that stirs the Jewish soul. Nefesh Yehudi homiyah - A Jewish Spirit Still Sings.
Take a moment and listen to this 6 year old practice his piano lesson so you can hear what I just heard. Another joy kids bring to the heart and the home.
Well its hard to believe another Passover has just about passed us by. However, not before celebrating the holiday and socializing David by immersion - so he knows his culture well.
Well - it all starts with an egg right (or was it the chicken)? Whatever, the egg is a symbol of new birth, a new season, new life. It is also about physics right? That's my dad's influence. My father taught me, and I taught David how to tell if an egg is hard boiled - since we needed a hard boiled egg for the sedar plate. You spin it and if it is hard boiled it will stand up while spinning.
Next it is time to make horoset - made of apples, walnuts, honey, and a tiny bit of grape juice. David did all the chopping. It symbolizes the mortar used to make bricks by the Jews when they were slaves in Egypt. (It happens to taste great.)
Now - what does not taste so great unless you are Nick, little David, or Summer? Horseradish. It clears up any sinus condition you may have - if only for the moment. It, as you know, symbolizes the bitterness of slavery. These guys do not look like they are suffering to much that's for sure.
David is impressed with Nick's ability to jump right in there with his matzah and marror (horseradish) sandwich. (Nick is a friend of the family from Google.) David and Nick handled the four questions. David told the story of how the Jews were slaves in Egypt, once freed they didn't have time to let the bread rise - and thus matzah, and how the Red Sea parted for their hasty departure. He did a good job.
For me, it is about celebrating our rich cultural tradition and remembering the story (from generation to generation) to make sure that it never happens again. But fundamentally, it is just about having friends and family together - to celebrate life - Lehiyim (to life).
[You can see the Sedar plate Sarah made when she was a kid. It is in the right hand bottom corner of the picture. So even though she is still far away in college, this is a way of having her present.]
Here is our wonderful hostess - mom, Summer, Babe - who helps bring all this together each year.
Before we ask David to find the afikoman (the hidden middle piece of matzah needed to bring the meal and the celebration to a close) - we enjoy a little musical interlude. David is playing for Nick and the rest of us.
Why stop there when we can hear the piano as well. By the way David passed his theory test for piano last weekend. The practice or performance part of the test is coming up next week. He will be fine.
Nick is quite an impressive pianist as well and graced us with his talents.
David loved hearing him play (and so did we).
Passover - the dinner sedar anyway - was concluded.
The little man got a dollar this year for finding the afikoman. What can you do - inflation?
I used to get a Kennedy half-dollar from my Zeddie (grandfather).
So we retreated to the backyard patio and just talked about plans for the future.
It was a complete family affair - the dogs included. They got the ritual shank bone - what a treat!
So long from the Fetterman Family. Thanks for sharing Passover with us for another year.
President & CEO, Fetterman and Associates, an international evaluation consulting firm. Past-president of the American Evaluation Association. 25 years of experience at Stanford University.
