Herbal Salve for Dinner

"Mooooooooom!!! What's for dinner?" came the teenager's war cry.
I had better get my act together and quickly clean up the stove top from slowly melting beeswax (although I guess that is edible), jars of herbal oil and a mess of patiently waiting containers strewn across the counter... more then I could say for some hungry teenagers who were thundering down the stairs.
As you may have guessed, I ran out of an herbal salve. Surprisingly it lasted an entire year, although like any large family, I tend to make things in bulk... sometimes too much bulk. However, in my opinion, there is no such thing as having too many herbs.
As my teenager entered the kitchen, his eyes nearly popped out of his head as he slowly beheld the sight before him. He couldn't believe his sense of smell had deceived him, or rather that he had mistaken the heavenly smell of fresh Calendula oil to something mysteriously delicious coming out of the kitchen that could (or so he thought), satisfy both his taste buds as well as the bottomless pit of his stomach.
"Um, mom, what's for dinner?" he asked rather hesitantly.
At this point I was feeling quite proud that my herbal kitchen was smelling good enough to lure the unsuspecting teenager down two flights of stairs. Grinning like a little child from ear to ear, I answered in a half serious tone of voice, "Herbal Salve."

By now he was getting worried. I should stop here and inform you that I still had one hour to dinner time. This gave me plenty of time to clean up the pots, beeswax, herbal oils, small containers, measuring cups and essential oils that had taken over my kitchen, and whip up (with help from my husband), some veggie burgers, homemade fries and salad. But with no dinner in sight, and a teenager who was beginning to question both his survival and his mother's sense of humor, I would say I was right on schedule to clean up the apothecary, or as my little sister calls it, witch-crafting, and tackle dinner preparations.

I think it's every herbalist's dream to have a separate kitchen for herbal preparations, however it has definitely been fun sharing the vast and beautiful world of herbal medicine with our children.
So what, you may ask, is the recipe for the salve I ran out of? I came across this recipe a few years ago in Rosemary Gladstar's book, Herbs for Children's Health.
She writes, "An herbal salve made with St. John's wort, comfrey, and calendula is one of the best remedies I know of for rashes, scrapes, and other skin irritations." ...."This is my very favorite salve recipe for diaper rash. It's also useful for soothing and healing cuts, scrapes, burns, and other skin irritations."....

This has probably become one of our favorite and most used salves. There are a few ways to make an herbal oil and some nice demonstrations are provided on YouTube. When I'm in a rush I let the herbs steep in a double boiler over a low flame for several hours. Another method that I personally like is to put the herbs in a large mason jar, cover with olive oil, cap it, cover it and let it sit for 10 days on a heating pad. (Make sure the heating pad does not have an automatic shut off.)
All Purpose Skin Salve:
1 part calendula flower oil
1 part comfrey leaf oil
1 part St. John's wort flower oil (must be made with fresh St. John's wort and not dried.)
Measure out 8 oz of herbal oil and mix with 1 oz of melted beeswax.
After everything is poured out into containers, I add a few drops of essential oils before it cools and hardens. (This week I used Lavender essential oil and Frankincense essential oil.) Then I let them sit out to cool. You can put them in the fridge to cool down faster, however you might not get that professional smooth look once it all hardens.

And yes, dinner was ready on time. :)

Boys will be boys.

      Can someone please explain teenagers to me? No, actually please don't. My brain might ironically explode while trying to understand their eccentricities during their brief period of brain shrinkage - which, by the way has been scientifically proven. I could swear that his very smart brain was having a senior moment and I genuinely didn't realize from the get-go which way his brain was going... Although I must admit, instead of succumbing to the stage of shrinkage it seems it was headed to broader horizons. Recently, I had a vaguely familiar conversation with one of my boys that went something like this....

The night before:

"Mom, can I get deodorant? I think I could use some."

Me: "Sure. Tatty can take you to Whole Foods and you can pick something out."
My boys have gotten the third, fourth and fifth degree on using "regular" deodorant and the toxins that go with it. I have offered my homemade deodorant (to teenagers     !) but seriously, what was I even thinking? Don't answer that....

The next morning:
"Mom, can I have deodorant? I want some Ax." (I honestly don't even know if that's how you spell that name brand.)

Me:
"There is no way you are putting that poison under your arms."

My son... who was reassuring me mind you...
"I'm not putting it under my arms."

Me - thinking he wants to go after the cool, aka awesomeness smell, but hellooo, you still breath it in people.  !
"No, you can not put it on your clothes either."

My son:
"I'm not putting it on my clothes."

Me - getting a little more amped up and far more suspicious....
"There is no way you are going to use it as an air freshener, you can kill somebody like that!"

My son:
"I'm not using it as an air freshener."

Me - By this time flabbergasted would be putting it mildly...
"You most certainly may NOT use it to light up anything with!"

My son:
"Dang! Ok."

Sigh. At least we have open communication.

- Matana B

                                                                                                                               Photo by Mendel B

Homeschool Curriculum. History, Geography, Science and More.

      A friend of mine who has recently begun her own homeschooling journey, recently asked me what I do for History, Geography and Science. In the beginning of our homeschooling experience, I have to admit that it did take me a good two years to get the image and expectations of traditional schooling out of my mind. What homeschooling looks like in every homeschool family will drastically look different from one another, simply because no two families are alike! The children are different, have different needs, some with special needs, different habits, different hobbies, different attention spans, tallents... the list goes on and on. For our own family, I knew that the way a traditional school runs, with desks, a set schedule, a set curriculum and even following the Common Core, was definitely not going to work for us and would even extinguish their love of learning. Despite knowing this, as I mentioned before, it still took me quite a while to gather up the courage to teach our children in a completely different way. one that looked entirely different then that of which you may find in traditional school.

      So what does our day look like? For starters, we personally do not follow a set schedule and the clock poses as just a suggestion. For some homeschooling families, following a set schedule with specific times works for them, and that's wonderful, but families need to realize that what works for one family may not work for another and that's fine too. What I do have, is a visual list of the subjects that ideally I would like to cover for that week. It's also an easy way for the kids to pick and choose how they would like to schedule their day. Like any teacher in the classroom, with children on multiple levels of learning, I walk around and go from one child to the next and offer assistance or guidance when needed, as well as teaching subjects in "group learning". No, things are not always calm, or go according to plan, but we definitely do our best. By the end of the year when I look back, as I make sure the portfolios are in order, I am always pleasantly surprised with how much we have learned and how much we have grown as a family.

      Sometime during the summer, before the start of the new school year, I take out my two large wall calendars. One calendar is for the family which has everything from doctor appointments to art classes on it. The other calendar is the one I base our homeschool year of learning around. I begin by marking in all of the Jewish holidays (if they are not already listed), then I fill in all of the Chassidic holidays or special days. (I also take note of the weekly Torah portion.) Once that is done, I pencil in which books and resources I plan to use for teaching the upcoming special days as well as when I would like to start. These include books on the significance of the actual days, laws and customs, history books and even science books. You would be surprised at how much history and science alone you can cover this way, all while keeping a beautiful connection to Torah.

      There is a secular History website that my kids have thoroughly enjoyed over the years. I allow them to pick what interests them, and after we have disgussed it, we write down what they have learned. and add it to their portfolio.  www.havefunwithhistory.com

      Another incredible resource that a mother recommended to me a couple of years ago, is www.learningally.org . If you have any child in the family with any sort of reading disability or learning disability, this is a gold mind. There are hundreds of books covering every and any subject for all ages. I can't recommend this site highly enough. I very much prefer a Charlotte Mason way of learning, so this has also been an easy and relaxing way to enhance the children's education. www.amblesideonline.org offers a free curriculum for every grade which I also like to use as a guidline. Keep in mind that when they say "year 1", "year 2" etc... it does not necessarily go by grade, but rather by level.

      For Geography, my all time favorite is to use a variety of different maps with musical audio CD's by Kathy Troxel. I knew I was onto something a few years ago when my then, preschooler and first grader, proudly began to sing all of the Northern border, Southern border, Easter border and Pacific states.

      When any kind of educational audio CD is playing, it is also a great time to encourage quiet creative play or art. I try to include which different audio CD's would be appropriate for certain times during the months on our homeschool calendar, ie, stories of Chassidim, holidays, weekly Torah portion etc, but I have not done this every year. Sometimes it's just easier to go according to my iTunes playlist that I put together according to the Jewish months. Even when the kids or mommy are feeling under the weather, they can be logging school hours from audio books and educational CD's.

      For foreign language we have chosen to stick with the Hebrew language, however, since having special needs kids, a few years ago we have added sign language to our curriculum as well. There are a few really nice sign language apps, but my absolute favorite way to teach kids sign language is to use the Signing Time videos by Two Little Hands Productions. I have used them for years, and only recently discovered that for $10 per month or $100 per year, you get full access to their entire DVD collection. Her DVD's have been a life saver for us. www.signingtime.com/subscribe  Who knows, maybe one of our children will even decide to take this further.

      A wise homeschool mother once told me that about every six months, she stops to re-evaluate the growing needs of her family or if they need to adjust or change the curriculum in any way. One year I was so excited to follow a specific book series for Jewish history that I had found on Artscroll. It worked great, but about halfway through the school year, I sensed the kids needed a change. One of the beauties of homeschooling is that you can adjust things as needed as soon as you feel the need, whether it's the curriculum, the room where your typically do your homeschooling or the seating arrangements. We typically float from the dining room table, to the couch, to the carpet, to quiet reading in bed, and in the warmer months, to the great outdoors. (One of my boys finished reading most of a specific book that I had assigned him, while lying down on the outdoor trampoline.)

      What would my advice be to homeschooling families just beginning on this journey? Relax! I definitely put too much pressure on myself in the beginning and my expectations were too high. I was tense, the kids were tense and academics definitely took the front row seat in the house, when there is so much more to homeschooling then that. There is Midos, character, responsibility, household chores, Derech Eretz, connecting with each other, working on family dynamics, being a mentch and simply cultivating a love for Hashem and His Torah.

      No matter which path you choose, whether it be homeschooling or traditional schooling, may we all be blessed to have Shalom, peace in our home, nachas from each other, a home full of love, laughter, joy and simcha. May we be able to raise children who constantly feel the love of Hashem, see the beauty of Torah experience it's warmth and understand its depth. May we merit to welcome Moshiach speedily in our days.  

L'chayim

-Matana B
                                                                                                                              Photos by Mendel B

A Colorful Mess

Have you ever vacuumed with the vacuum bag ripped?  Or use the shop vac with it somehow spewing dust and other matter out of the back? (Both have actually happened to me.) If not, imagine, slowly pushing the vacuum forward while your busy toddler quietly follows you and throws flower, spices, toys and whatever else he or she may have up their sleeve or behind their back all over the floor behind you. This is what it is like cleaning with toddlers. Sometimes you wonder why you bother cleaning at all, but I have figured out a very sensible reason for this seemingly not so sensible action..... Because you don't want a mess on top of a mess. Picturing this is giving me chest pains....

As we all know, life can become quite stressful and intense. Ever since my early teenage years, one of the ways I learned to cope with being able to handle the curve-balls that would come my way, was to try to make sure that at least my physical surroundings were orderly and neat. Life might sometimes seem like a mess, but at least it was an organized mess! 

I remember one evening,  when I was going through the dating scene, I had retreated after a rather long day, into my bedroom. As I was tidying up my already Martha Stewart picture perfect, slightly OCD room, my mother poked her head into my room to wish me a good night, but stopped suddenly as she slowly drew in the scene before her. I was on my hands and knees, combing the fringes of my carpet out with my fingers, so that none of the fringes were touching, and all of them were relatively straight. 

My mother looked at me, let out a soft gasp and said, "Tana! You can't expect to do that when you have children!"

Still a teenager at 19, I responded, "I know! And I am not going to have fringes on my carpet when I have kids!!!!"
It took me 1.2 seconds to figure that out. 

It wasn't exactly something I regularly thought about, but I wanted to take advantage of the time of neatness while I could. Little did I know just how messy busy toddlers and kids with special needs can make your world, but in the meantime I continued to live in a world of bliss (or was it slight oblivion). I would fix those fringes on the carpet, hang my clothing in height order and according to weekday and special occasion, made sure to dust and kept the books in height order..... yes, [sigh] there was more but I will stop here.... but that was one of the ways I felt in control of that time period in my life, a time that was full of introspection,  nervousness and, well, at that point I was still working on my sense of humor......

So does our house get messy? Yes! Does it feel like I might lose my mind? Well, only when the mess looks like it is something out of Calvin and Hobbes, slowly morphing and coming to devour me alive. I remember seeing those scenes in Calvin and Hobbs and thinking, wow, that child (and author), has an incredible imagination!..... well now I am not so sure it's an imagination. ... and no one ever told me that laundry can multiply faster than fruit flies. And how on earth is there so much laundry when it seems like half the kids (especially my sensory kids), prefer to be in the nude??

But is it all worth it? At the end of the day, when I have cleaned up, rearranged, wiped, sprayed and organized for the trillionth time (literally), is it all worth it? I will give you a resounding Yes! And I thank G-d for a beautiful and colorful mess full of colorful and suspiciously sticky fingers and little bodies and the list goes on. In my teenage years, if G-d would have shown me a glimpse of our future mess, I probably would have fainted on the spot. Am I brave enough to show you pictures of our beautifully messy house with the kids in action before mommy digs real deep for that last little bit of mental energy to clean up again? Uh, nooooo. Anyway, the pictures of our toddler and one year old covered in chickpea flour this evening (thanks to our toddler who was filling an awesome sensory need), she was not exactly dressed appropriately, if you can even call it that, so I will leave that up to your imagination.

May we all be blessed with an unlimited amount of energy and a rock solid sense of humor to gracefully make it through the toddler days and beyond.  

Our son with Autism actually got past the child lock to this spice cabinet a while back. He dumped the cayenne pepper down the air conditioning vent just as the A.C. kicked in..... it was painful. This little beauty has thankfully not discovered the A.C. vent. Yet. And mommy has learned her lesson.

Ah yes. The three weeks.

      Every year I hold my breath when we get to the three weeks. One year, on the Shabbos before the ninth of Av (so what on earth was I thinking taking my kids to the park that morning????) My son fell off the zip line and broke his humerus. He needed 3 pins to hold the bones in place. Another year ( this was just as we were entering the 9 days), we were driving home, and on the on ramp, our youngest daughter began a 20 minute complex seizure. Needless to say that was the first time I have ever driven backwards on an on ramp... so yes, when the three weeks approach I tend to get a little nervous.  Last week, one of little ones spiked a high fever with a 24 hour virus. Watching her, I knew that if the baby would get it, there was a good chance of a fiberal seizure..... now if I was a betting woman.....!

        last night, I carried up a very tired little one off to bed. We curled up together under the covers and she began to nurse. After a few seconds somethings didn't feel right. She was still sucking, but even in the dark I could see her eyes open really wide and she gave a fixed stare looking up and to the right. Those wide eyes scared me. I had seen that stare before. Her neck stiffened a bit. I called her name, stroked her head and adjusted her position. With her eyes open wide, she continued to stare. As soon as her neck started twitching I knew something was wrong. Watching the clock, I yelled for my husband. We took her temperature and sure enough she had a fever. It wasn't so high, but a fever nonetheless. Her hands twitched a little, but that stare,  that stare was really all it took for me to know. We rushed her downtrairs. I stroked her, called her, I felt myself getting a little choked up. We were 5 min in and her lips were blue. By the time the parametrics came, just a few minutes later, it was over. We called her pediatrician and asked him what to do. This may sound funny or obvious to you, but having gone through our share of seizures,  once this was over it almost seemed like a walk in the park. I felt like, "oh! It's over! Few! Thank G-d (a million times over)! And just a febrile seizure, nothing fancy like her older sister child." (She pulled so much shtick and needed to spice things up with her seizures, by keeping them longer then 20 minutes, as if life wasn't exciting enough.) Needles to say, our wise Dr said it most likely is just a febrile seizure caused by a virus,  bit they don't like diagnosing those things over the phone, especially since hers was about 6 min long. So off we went with the EMT. As expected, she was still quite out of it, but I was relieved to have an additional set of watchful eyes, keeping a close eye on her.

     

       It was almost 4 am. My husband woke up Yehuda, one of my brothers, to come over and watch the kids while he went to pick us up. As my brother walked over in the dark in his pj's, slippers and button down shirt, and approached our house, he heard some crying. Yes, our toddler had gotten up and needed her passionate and intense toddler world to calm down.  As much as I dream of living on a farm, I know we would kill the roosters with insomnia. Perhaps my son's idea of getting a chinchilla isn't such a bad idea after all.....   

      

      Well, all's well that ends well, thank G-d. I should add here that this was the second time we called emergency this week, but the first time was much less eventful,  except for the fact that when the paramedics asked me for the name and birthday of our toddler, of course I panicked and completely blanked.  Our toddler just gave me quite a scare, enough for me to be in tears and call 911, my entire being and all of my brain cells are focused on her well being, and your going to throw the name and date thing at me? With a panicked and probably a bit of a sorrowful look on my face, I turned to my husband for help, who thankfully came to my rescue.  Flawlessly I might add.

      

      I thanked my brother for coming over in the wee hours of the morning at such short notice.  I was so grateful he came with his usual layed back happy self, despite being suddenly woken up. In no way did he make me feel like we had inconvenienced him at all. Smiling, he looked up at me and said, "It seems you have very religious kids who hold the Jewish calendar close to their heart."

Thank G-d for the little things.
L'chayim!
  

                                                                                                     Photos by Mendel B

Climbing your Mountain

      I remember gazing at you for the first time. I remember the overwhelming feeling of intense emotions that rushed through me. I was filled with wonder at the beautiful miracle that was just placed upon my chest. You were beautiful! 

      

      Exhausted from the long labor and with my eyes closed, I tenderly placed my hand over yours, hoping that everything was ok. I carefully felt your delicate little fingers. You were quiet, but breathing. I gently placed my hand on your side and held you close. You were quiet, but listening. I opened my eyes to look into yours. You were tired as well. I slowly brought my other hand over you. It's ok little one, you can rest now. Your body rose with the rise of my chest, and with each breath you seemed to relax a bit more. I felt shy and was humbled to meet such a perfect human being. Who am I, to raise such a beautiful soul? Was G-d certain He knew what he was doing by entrusting me with such an awesome being? You were quiet but filled with life, and you had an endurance that would later inspire us both, for you had a mountain to climb.

      You had difficulty nursing. You struggled to get nourishment. It was too exhausting for your little tired body. We both cried as you would strain to get milk from me, and then fall asleep to conserve your energy. I so badly wanted to connect with you in this unique way, but I began to realize that your week little body simply needed nourishment more then I needed to bond with you in this special way.  I would cradle you close to my heart as you would eat from a medicine dropper, whispering gently words of encouragement for you to take just one more swallow. Just one more swallow, and again, just one more. Little by little you began to get stronger. Each feeding would consume every ounce of your energy, but you were determined to begin the long assent of your mountain. 

      Every milestone took great effort on your part. It has been amazing to watch your persistence and patience. There were many times I felt tears welling up inside me as I watched you struggle, but then I would see your determination and courage. You have strength I could only wish for and G-d has blessed you with a great gift, because your mountain is an awesome one. Climb your mountain, little one, but please, may I be so humble as to ask for you to take me with you.

- Matana B

Cloth Diapers

      Never in a million years would I have thought I would be doing cloth diapers, let alone loving it, but we are. Devorah, a friend of mine, reintroduced me to the idea, so I guess you could say she is the one who put the bug into my head. Over the next few months I asked her many questions until I felt confident enough to jump into it. I must have asked her over 100 questions....
How do you handle messy diapers?
How do you get all of the poop off?
How do you change a cloth diaper when out in public?
What do you do with the dirty diaper when out in public or at a play date?
Can you bleach them?
What if the baby has a yeast infection?
Umm, diaper creams, lotions? Can I use them with cloth diapers?
How do you wash them, on what temperature and how often?
Do you put them in the dryer?
How many do I need?
How do you get stains out?
What name brands do you like? (My head was spinning with the choices.)

      Before I continue, let me just say that by no means is this necessarily the best way to cloth diaper. Yes, I have found some mothers say not to use homemade soap because, although it is toxic free, it may cause build up in your diapers etc... What I am sharing with you, is our cloth diapering experience of the past 5 years. How we treat them, use them, store and wash etc.. It took 5 years of continual use for me to finally feel the need to replace some of our pre-folds. (Again, some.)

      My parents did cloth diapers, using a local diaper service for many years, so the concept was not foreign to me, however I still never thought of cloth diapering as something I would do. My parents, having been cloth diaper pros, gave me some great tips and pointers which were very helpful. So after a few months of reading, asking questions and reading some more I was finally ready to start. I would like to share with you how we do it, all the way from the liquid laundry soap that we use, to handling those messy diapers on the go.

Our Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap

      There are many recipes online for homemade liquid laundry soap, all similar to one another and very cost effective. Does it work? Well I think our sparkling white, clean cloth diapers, which have seen there share of the messy end of things speaks for itself. We pretty much used this recipe from Wellness Mama, the only difference is that instead of using just one bar of soap we use two.

What you need:

Washing Soda,
Borax,
2 Bars of soap (We use Ivory.)
5 Gallon bucket

How it's Done:

1) Grate two bars of soap.

2) Add the shredded bars of soap to a pot filled with two quarts of hot water. Gently boil until completely dissolved. Set aside.

3) Fill your 5 gallon bucket with 4.5 Gallons of hot tap water.

4) Pour in 1 Cup of Borax and 1 Cup of Washing Soda. Mix well until dissolved.

5) Now add your dissolved soap mixture that you had set aside to the 4.5 gallons of water. (Now you have 5 gallons of liquid laundry soap.) MIX WELL!

6) Cover and let sit overnight.

7) Shake or stir, then pour into smaller containers so you can give it a quick shake before each use.

We use one cup per load. Enjoy!

      I would like to add that on occasion I do add white vinegar and a scoop of Oxiclean. I understand that vinegar is not the greatest on the PUL fabric or the diaper covers, but we have been doing this for the past two years and the diapers seem none the worse for wear. One thing we do not do, is put the diaper covers in the dryer on high heat! Hang dry them to lengthen the life you get out of them.

      We switched our diaper stash a couple of times before I found a brand which I love. We now use mostly Rumparooz diaper covers with the Osocozy pre-fold cloth diapers. The cloth diapers go into the dryer, but again, the diaper covers I always hang dry. I have found that putting PUL in the dryer,  especially on high heat, dramatically shortens the life span of the diaper cover. In the winter they still dry pretty quickly in our chilly basement.

How do we handle the poop factor?

      This tip came from my parents. Many parents today choose to set aside the messy diapers in a dry / wet bag for a day or two until they are ready to wash. While this is what I typically do, I do things a little differently if the diapers are particularly soiled, or if there is a stomach bug going through the house. When my parents did cloth diapering, the soiled diapers were put into a bucket filled with cold water and some borax. (Of course you need to make sure this bucket is out of reach from little explorers. You don't want anyone going in head first! We keep ours behind the basement door.) This functions as a pre-wash so when you are ready to wash your diapers they wash out beautifully. Occasionally I will also add some oxiclean and baking soda. In the past I have added tea tree essential oil and/or oregano essential oil if I suspected a yeast related rash. The essential oils help kill bacteria and any residual odor. Although the oregano is more potent and is said to kill any bacteria a bit more efficiently, I prefer the tea tree oil because it's not as pungent of a smell. Again, I don't typically add the essential oils because after a while it can cause build up in the diapers.

Another product that I found incredible helpful is Rockin' Green Funk Rock Ammonia Bouncer. In general, Rockin Green has some pretty awesome soaking and washing products for the cloth diapering family. Check them out on Amazon and read the reviews as well.
                                                     

From Left to Right: Alva, Bumgenius 4.0 and Grovia Hybrid

I have since sold most of our Grovia and Bumgenius stash because I have found double gusset diapers to work much better for us, so these are pictures of our old stash. (In the pictures they are about one year old.) We now mostly use Thirsties and Rumparooz with pre-folds.
                             
                             From Left to Right: Alva, Grovia and Bumgenius all nice and white.

   

Cloth Diapering on the Go...and which diapers we use.
These are the items I bring when we are out and about:

1) Clean, ready to use cloth diapers.

     We have tried quite a few different brands of cloth diapers. I have learned that what works best for our babies and toddlers, are diapers with a double gussets. They seem to do a much better job at catching everything. We started out with BumGenius and Grovia Hybrid. I loved that they were so easy to use, as pre-folds and flat diapers seemed so daunting in the beginning. I have since sold and replaced them, and we now use diaper covers with double gussets from Rumparooz and Thirsties, with pre-fold cloth diapers from OsoCozy (I have a few flat diapers). We also have a few diapers and training pants form Best Bottom. In the beginning I thought there was no way I was going to do pre-fold diapers. It just seemed way too complicated, however I have fallen in love with them. They are by far the most cost effective way of diapering and are really not so complicated after all. The diaper covers are also quite fitted, so I can get away without using any diaper pins or snappies. You do need to follow the pre washing instructions for the OsoCozy cloth diapers because it does help to ensure maximum absorbency.

                         
2) A wet / dry bag to place any wet or soiled diapers into while on the go. (Yes, it's as simple as that!)

                   

                                     

   
       I like to add a few sprays of our homemade diaper spray into the wet bag. It has tea tree essential oil and lavender essential oil which helps enormously with any smelly diapers as well as with bacteria. Tea Tree oil also has strong antiseptic and germicidal properties. (I don't think your average person will even get so much as a hint of any smell from a messy diaper on the go.)
                                                     

      As soon as we get home I scrape off what I can into the toilet and then transfer them to our larger wet-bag until ready to wash. If they are particularly soiled I let the diapers sit in a bucket of cold water and borax, baking soda and our homemade laundry soap. Again, this acts as a pre-soak and makes washing the diapers a dream. Our homemade liquid washing soap is also very effective in its cleaning ability and minimizes, if not eliminates the common cleaning problems that many moms face, like staining and residual smell when using the laundry soap on the market specifically for cloth diapers. Most of the time I really don't need the soak bucket, but one of our babies had particularly loose stool (until I figured out that gluten was the culprit), so those diapers typically soaked in a bucket for a day or two days until I was ready to wash them.

3) A spray bottle filled with our homemade diaper wipe spray.
   
                         
4) Pre-cut paper towels (I use this instead of baby wipes), or cloth wipes.

       A couple of months ago I was brave enough to switch to cloth wipes, but if you choose paper towels I want to clarify here that in order to make the paper towel soft against the baby's skin, I would first spray the paper towel with a generous amount of liquid and then wipe the baby's bottom with the moist paper towel which is now not abrasive anymore. It is so much easier to clean the baby's skin this way then with traditional disposable wipes. For a really messy diaper I find I don't need more then 4 small (half cut) pieces of paper towels or 2 cloth wipes. The homemade baby wipe spray also really cleans. I never smell any lingering evidence on the baby's skin of what the previous diaper was cooking.

5) A small tupperware or mason jar container filled with organic coconut oil or french green clay that I use as a diaper cream. Two of our children had very sensitive skin and were constantly getting all kinds of diaper rashes despite allergy testing, steroid prescription creams, eliminating wheat, soy, dairy and nuts, you name it we did it and nothing seemed to work, until my sister-in-law introduced me to french green clay. I found there is a little science behind using it.

Diaper Rash

      In the event of a diaper rash, I like to air out their bum with one or two cotton training pants. This is the equivalent of wearing cotton diapers without the diaper cover so their skin can really breath. An hour at a time is what I can do since I need to be on the look out for little puddles to wipe up. Preferably two times a day but even if I only do this once a day and the rest of the day use cloth diapers, the rash goes away much quicker then with disposables. My favorite "creams" to use are coconut oil with a few drops of Lavender, Tea Tree and Chamomile essential oils, french green clay and a homemade herbal salve. We do experience dramatically less rashes in general with the cloth diapers then with disposables and since I have zeroed in on different food allergies and a little trick with the clay, thank G-d we have been rash free for quite some time now. If at any time I do notice a little bit of redness on the baby's bottom, I immediately use the clay or herbal salve and by the next couple of diaper changes, the redness is typically gone.

A Note on French Green Clay

      One of my babies had such sensitive skin, despite cutting out dairy, gluten, nuts, soy and corn products. For a while we were doing organic disposable diapers and while that definitely made a positive difference,  she would still, on occasion, wind up with a rash that left her skin with open wounds. Sometime after switching to cloth diapers I discovered the art behind using french green clay, and the result was a very happy toddler, or shall I say bottom....

      So here is what we do. I put a few cups of distilled or reverse osmosis water into a container. I slowly keep adding tablespoons of the powdered clay as I use the immersion hand blender, until I get a nice smooth clay consistency. But here is the clincher. As you are slowly adding the clay, I also add melted Shea butter and Calendula oil, so the end result is a smooth green clay with a healing moisturizer carefully blended in. I found that when I would just use the French Green Clay without adding the Shea butter and Calendual oil, the skin, which is trying to heal, would stick to the clay and would slow down the healing as well as cause the wounded area to be quite uncomfortable. Adding Lavender, Tea Tree and Chamomile essential oils are also highly medicinal.

      My friend Devorah explained to me that there are certain ingredients that should not be used with cloth diapers when using diaper rash creams or barriers for extra sensitive skin. It's a good thing she told me that because it didn't even dawn on me that some ingredients would pose a problem. I also found more information on diaperwrecker.com.

Drying the Diapers

       We line dry the covers or any pocket diapers. Many mothers have found sun drying them to help with any stubborn stains, but depending on where you live that may not always be an option. I would love to sun them, but often times the weather doesn't permit that, so instead they get the glorious view of our basement. Pre-folds we put in the dryer.

Let me know if I can answer any more questions!
- Matana B
                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                     Photos below by Mendel B

           
                                                                                                       
                                                                                                           

Tell Me That You Love Me

      "A rock you, mommy," my toddler said, as she lifted her tired arms up towards me. My heart always melts when she does this. My spirited child, so passionate about life, was ready to rest in my arms. Sometimes I wonder who needs who more? I reached down and hugged her tightly against my chest. She snuggled deeply into my arms and relaxed as I wrapped my arms around her. She didn't necessarily physically relax, because her muscles were still tense, but I could sense her energy, her emotions and her aura relax. I like to call her my spirited one, so deeply passionate about everything she does, including the act of a simple hug. Perhaps it wasn't so simple? What was she telling me in this deep embrace? What, in return, was I saying to her? 

      I sat down on the rocking chair and began to rock her as she snuggled, yet deeper into my arms. She took shelter in my embrace and I in hers. She curled up her little body so tightly, until she could no longer bring her legs in any closer, her arms any tighter and her back any deeper into my chest. She nestled her head against my heart and slowly found a position, one of comfort, content and satisfaction. I slowly began to feel her muscles relax. Every now and then she would shift her position and press her body once more deep into my arms as if to make sure this moment would last forever. 

      Each of our children have taught me so much and continue to teach me with such ease and simplicity, yet with immense wisdom and depth. It amazes me how they don't need words to say they have been hurt, rather a look into their eyes is all it takes to understand. To become a parent, is to become vulnerable to your own mistakes, to accept your weaknesses and imperfections and to learn to love again and again. I never go through a day without wishing I had said or done something differently. Perhaps with more warmth, more enthusiasm or even with more love. Rest little one, rest in our embrace and know that my love is unconditional no matter where our paths may take us. Yes, this was a deep embrace, and it was ours.

Photo by Mendel B

Curriculum Review! Chumash

        My mother has a innate gift for finding wholesome and inspiring new books. Last year my mother introduced me to a beautiful and masterful find, "The Guide to Loshon Hakodesh - Mastering the Basics" by Nachman Marcuson. As a student,  I often felt as if the rules and methods by which to understand and translate the Chumash seemed to be forever changing and never ending. I have never felt as though all teachers throughout every grade were teaching in a uniform and systematic fashion, or if such a concept was even at all possible.

       I am excited to say that this is exactly what I am now using for my 3rd, 6th and 7th graders! Nachman Marcuson has truly created a masterpiece for all ages! The first book (the brown one), is broken down into 16 lessons. Each lesson has a small list of vocabulary words to master and a few new rules to learn about how Lashon Hakodesh functions. At the end of each lesson there is a review based on the new vocabulary and rules provided in that lesson. Nachman Marcuson based his writings on the teachings of Rabbi Freilich, who discovered that by learning 230 key words, you will understand 93% of the words that appear in the Chumash! He heavily encourages complete mastery of the new words listed at the beginning of each lesson before moving onto the next lesson. Because it is definitely possible to use the same books for every child, especially since the author discourages writing in the books, I have found that when the children each have their own copy, it encourages them to truly "own" their learning.

Matana B

         

All's Well that Ends Well.

      A few months ago we decided to take the kids to the Children's Museum. I typically don't like to go to very many places on Sundays simply because the crowds make it difficult to keep track of our incredibly swift, moving targets.  During the week, things are usually pretty quiet, so I have an easier time keeping tabs on everyone (when the boys were younger I used to dress them all identically so in the event that one would wander off I could tell security that "he looks like this one"). So off we went, to the Children's Museum.

      When we got there the crowd was pleasantly thin. I breathed a sigh of relief, not because it was empty but because we had survived the transition of home to museum in one piece and we made it without too many melt downs, band-aides, bathroom trips, changes of clothes, last minute diaper changes, spills and G-d only knows what else.
                                               
      We are fortunate to have a beautiful Children's Museum relatively close by with lots of things for the kids to do. We walked in and hung up our coats. The children were so excited! Immediately the older children began to shepherd the younger ones to different parts of the museum and excitedly showed them all of  activities that they could do. It was really cute to see. Sruly had an absolute blast. He looked like any other typical child, completely enjoying himself running around, exploring and letting the other kids show him "the ropes" with a big smile on his face. He thoroughly enjoyed touching, feeling, running, jumping and simply being a part of it all.

      An hour later we found ourselves in the jumping room. This was a cavernous room with an equally large tunnel shaped moon bounce. The kids had a blast  (I'm not sure who had the biggest smile - the kids or me watching them)! This was probably Sruly's favorite activity. After about 20 min on the moon bounce, one of my boys, who is known to be a real tough guy, came limping over to me crying. Just for the record, this is a child who never ever cries unless something is very wrong. Judging from his reaction and the look on his face, I knew immediately that our next stop was most probably going to be what we are beginning to think of as our second home - the emergency department of Children's Hospital. It just so happened that as he was exiting the tunnel, his foot somehow managed to find and wedge itself in the only exposed space in the entire moonbounce, a gap five and a half inches wide between the main structure and the landing mat. As his body continued forward his leg stayed put and twisted. I found myself on the phone with my husband who was five exhibits over begging him to drop - I mean grab everything and high tail it to the moonbounce room. As my husband sat there examining my son's foot and making the determination that it would be a while until the two of them would see the cozy interior of home that evening, the staff of the museum came over with an incident report form for us to fill out and a wheel chair to bring our now immobile child to the van.

      Before leaving the lobby I made a quick head count to make sure we were all together.... Well to make a short story a bit shorter, I kept coming up with one child more then I thought we should have. This wasn't so bad, only that I honestly thought we had one child less then that in our family. When do I need to start worrying that I am loosing it? After counting the children for the fifth time I began to think, well, maybe I really do have that many kids! When did that happen?? ...But I could have sworn we had one less than I had counted.... So I counted again, and again I came up with one extra child! I was dumbfounded. How on earth?!?! Seriously, I could have sworn we were not up to that number just yet.

      While I was re-counting and trying to de-clultter my infamous mommy brain, my husband was talking with the nervous staff about what had happened. I counted one more time and my eyes landed on the sleeping child in the stroller who was covered with coats. I checked to make sure he or she was still breathing under the mountain of goose feathers and it was then that I discovered that it was nothing more than a pile of coats. At this point my patience were beginning to run thin. I had counted the children a dozen times by then and had asked them to put on their coats at least half of that, but the only thing that they seemed interested in was how fast the wheel chair could  take a corner without tipping and spilling its' occupant flat out on the floor.

      Miracle of miracles, we made it to the car without any additional tears (or broken bones for that matter). On the way home my husband called the ER to find out which attendings were on for that shift. (Not that it would make a difference either way, being that my husband pretty much knows ALL of them on a first name basis, thanks to our "ever so passively calm and quiet" dear children).

      After settling the rest of the family at home, my husband and our now immobile former Mexican jumping bean headed to what I am absolutely now convinced to be our home away from home - aka Children's Hospital.
 
      After the standard routine examinations and x-rays he was given the diagnosis (of which my husband had already bet our life savings on what it would be well before we had even left the museum) of a fractured tibia (thank G-d for little things), which would need to be set and casted. Under normal circumstances this would render him pretty much immobile for the next eight weeks. However, once he figured out that he could drop his wheel chair and crutches and still ride his scooter, skate board, bicycle and play hockey without too much pain, he considered himself a free man. Six weeks, three shredded casts and a rather relieved chief of orthopedic surgery later, he was given the "all clear" to resume his "normal" daily activities.

      "What??!" I said, when the two of them came home. "They sent you home without a rocker boot?? Do they know how active this child is???! He is going to break it again before tomorrow morning! He hasn't used those muscles in 8 weeks and they think that this is a typical child who will just ease those muscles back into use slowly and gently! Well they will be seeing him again!"

      Sure enough, 4 hours after my husband and son returned from the hospital, they were on their way back once again with a freshly re-injured leg. This time, however, they had the sense to send him home with a rocker boot. After another six weeks and a rocker boot that was shredded and worn down to the metal base plate we had a healed and happy young man who was ready to do it all over again....  

- Matana  B

Before our son realized that he could get around just fine without his wheel chair and crutches.

Small Miracles: A New Van

      When we upgraded from our typical seven seater mini van to our 8 seater Chevy Astro, I had to get acquainted with the slightly larger size before I felt comfortable driving it around town. So it is no wonder that I am waiting for a few lessons from my husband before I get behind the wheel of our new 12 seater van. The first time I got behind the wheel of our 8 seater, I was not accustomed to the slightly larger width of the van and hit the corner when I made a left turn. By the end of my first two week of driving I probably hit a few more corners and knocked in our side view mirror a few times, but needless to say I got the hang of the new inches and thank G-d enjoyed a few uneventful years of driving around with the kids to various outings.

      We know that with every new child comes new blessings. About a month and a half ago we decided it was time to upgrade to a 12 seater van, and what better time to do that then two days before our month long trip to Canada? Since our new van was not ready yet they gave us a courtesy van to use in the interim. When we returned and it was time for us to take possession of our new van, my husband went down to the dealership to finalize the last of the paper work. As he was sitting in the office talking with the owner, the owner mentioned to my husband how good our timing was to trade in our old van.

      "You see," he said. "A day and a half after you had given up possession of your Chevy Astro, I brought it around to park it at a lot across the street. I swung around to park, hit the brake to stop but the darn thing just kept on moving.... straight for the street. Thankfully I had enough room to veer off to the side without hitting anyone or anything. I have not been that shaken in a long time."

He looked at my husband in the eyes and said, "G-d is really looking out for you."

      Thank G-d we had an uneventful trip to and from Canada, and needless to say our old van is undergoing a full brake line rebuild... But I must say, it was G-d's timing, not ours. You see, had it not been for, please G-d a new little one, we would have no reason to trade in our van, and would still be driving the old one....

- Matana

                                                                                                              photos by Mendel B.

     

Erev Shabbos: Keeping it Real.

(Cont. from previous article "Speed Dial Malfunction.")

Needless to say I did finally get through to Chani.

"So what are your plans for today," she asked. "Survival? Like every other day?"

"Um, no." I answered. "I am determined to get this house ready for Shabbos."

"Well, nothing stands in the way of determination."

"Oh, you want a bet, there are a bunch of them running around the house right now. Hang on a second... my four year old just marched into the kitchen announcing that she neeeeeds ice, went over to the freezer and helped herself. I had better save the freezer."

"You have an ice machine?"

"My G-d can you imagine an ice machine in this house? You would need boots and snow pants year round in here. We disconnected it really quickly when we moved in. Actually, when the boys were little, you used to slip and slide your way into the kitchen... and it wasn't always so graceful."

      We chatted for a bit more until a few adorable, yet loud alarm clocks or tornadoes (not sure what to call them...) came marching through the house. I did manage to get the house (ok, the downstairs and the bathrooms) looking beautiful and ready for Shabbos, all of three hours early!... So I am not exactly sure what or when this happened but before I knew it, it was 25 min before candle lighting, I had not showered yet, I still had to bathe the little ones, the house was an absolute tip with no evidence of it having once looked fit for royal guests, there was an accident in the bathroom, my toddler tripped over Samson's water bowl, so once again our kitchen became an indoor slip and slide, my boys decided that one shower wasn't enough and came running through the house dripping wet from apparently a really good water fight... I thought I heard the hose go on.... and yes, they were playing in the dirt, or shall we now call it mud? Oh well, so much for my Eishes Chayil blue-ribbon-the-house-is-sparkling-and-the-kids-are-glowing award.

.....Although the mud did have a certain shine to it....

- Matana B

                                                                         photo by Mendel

- Matana

Exploring Hashem's Creations through Botany.

      This year the kids and I decided to do a course on botany for our science curriculum. It's exciting and inspiring being able to learn many subjects together around our dining room table, while constantly being reminded of G-d's infinite wisdom and vastness. 

      During the last few weeks we covered taxonomy, phyla, vascular and non vascular plants, moss, seed homes and angiosperms. I had to do quite a bit of editing to the curriculum that I found, so that it aligns itself to our religious beliefs, but the end result was satisfying. It was truly exciting to show the kids that no matter what we are learning, there is never a disconnect with G-d. 

In the pictures below we were learning about the midrib and it's role.          

      

                                                                             

                                                                   photo above by Mendel

Speed Dial Malfunction

      My fingers dialed her number. Typically I just tell my brain to dial Yael's number and my fingers do the rest. As I finished dialing I had a fleeting thought that maybe this time it wasn't the right number but I quickly shoved that thought aside. I definitely dialed the right number. It was naturally imprinted in my fingers. Somehow they knew just what to do.

"Hello?" The person answered.

"Hello?" I said, hoping whichever family member had picked up the phone would recognize my voice because I certainly did not recognize their voice.

      There was an awkward pause. Clearly they did not know who I was calling to talk to. "Umm, Ahh." (that was supposed to help them figure out my voice and then it would click, OH! You are calling for Yael! But that did not happen. I realized I needed to quickly ask for Yael because the person on the other line was probably as confused as I was, and perhaps getting a little bit annoyed.

"Is Yael there?" I asked. My mind racing as to who I could possibly be talking to. This didn't sound like any of her brothers, and this most certainly did not sound to me like her husband. I was stumped. I quickly introduced  myself because I know how annoying it is to receive a phone call from someone and the person does not introduce themselves, which I totally should have done.

"Now," I thought, "they will realize who I am."

I was waiting for "Yaaaaeeeeeeeelll phone for you!"

But alas, that did not happen.

In the microsecond that passed I was now even more confused then ever. Then I heard a voice on the other line respond.

"Um, honey, this is your dear husband."

And to that I will say L'chayim.
                                                                                                                                  photos by Mendel

- Matana

Erev Rosh Hashanah: On Gratitude.

      It's amazing how many times we second guess ourselves. How often we worry as parents. Are we doing the right thing for our children? Can I raise them to become loving, stable, self assured adults? Will they grow to embrace Torah, love G-d, hold a stable relationship full of warmth and kindness? Will they be able to understand and feel the depth and passion of not just their own emotions but of others as well, perhaps a significant other? Will they be able to embrace the trials and tribulations that life throws at them and become stronger from it? Or, heaven forbid, will they begin to feel it's easier to simply let go and search for what may seemingly look like an easier path, but it's one without growth, without a passion for life and Torah. 

      As we come closer the the new year, I am overwhelmed with all that I want to pray for. Instead I sit down and I thank G-d for all that we have. 

Thank you Hashem for giving me another day of life.

Thank you for blessing me with energy, to be able to think clearly, breath, see, and walk on my own. 

Thank you for my husband, my children and for giving me the gift of embracing life with them.

Thank you for your beautiful Torah and guiding our way of life.

Thank you for our home, food, clothing, running water, washing machine, dishwasher, vacuum and working appliances.

Thank you for helping me to slowly become more patient with my children.

Thank you for easy labor, delivery and recoveries.

Thank you for guiding us in raising our children.

Thank you for Shalom Bayis, health, simcha and laughter.

Thank you for wiping my tears and holding my hand through our challenging times.

Thank you for loving and supportive parents and grandparents, for my dear siblings, and knowing the gift of having a wonderful family. 

Thank you for all of the support you have given us for Sruly, for teachers who love him, for family who   adores him, for his growth and progress, but most of all for the gift of raising him with you.

Thank you for each and every one of our children, for the opportunity of raising them together with you and my husband. 

Thank you for all of the tests you have so carefully chosen and given us.

I hope and I pray that in this coming new year we are blessed to be given a year full of life, laughter, simcha, joy, health, strength and wisdom.

May we be inscribed in the book of life, and be able to dance with Moshiach speedily in our days. 

Amen and L'chayim!