10 Blog Post ideas in Draft

Ok, so I’m counting out how many posts I have left and I realize that I don’t have enough posts to write about all the different ideas I had wanted to write about. So I figured I would just make one big post with a little paragraph on each idea, they will obviously not be thorough, so if you have anything to add on, feel free to do so.

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Question: Is the Parents Room Just for Parents?

By my house the parents room isn’t just for parents, more often it becomes the family room where we all gather. On Shabbos mornings as soon as we wake up we go to our parents room and tell them good morning and do some talking. As a kid I remember we had fun jumping on their beds, we would jump from one bed to the next and look in the mirror while we did so. But yet the door did have a hook and eye lock, and there were times when us kids weren’t allowed in. But then if we knocked on the door, then it usually opened for us. At one house I was by I saw the parents had a combination lock on their bedroom door. I thought that was funny and a bit extreme, it seemed like they were in a whole other apartment that way.

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Sleepovers

At what age is a child old enough to go on a sleepover? and should they be left alone or attended?

I remember going on a few sleepovers. When I was 11 years old I went to a girl in my class’s house for a sleepover. I had brought a sleeping bag over, cause I liked to use it as a blanket. At home we figured out that if you put the sleeping bag on the top of the steps and go inside you can sit and slide down the steps in a bumpy fun way. So when I was by the girl’s house I decided to teach them how to do it so they could have some fun too. Thinking back at it now I would never let kids do it for fear that they would topple down and hurt themselves. So anyways, I put the sleeping bag on their steps and went in with my friend and we had fun going down. Then her little little brother wanted to have some fun too. So he asked if he can go in the sleeping bag with me and have a ride too. So I let him in and we went down a few times. Then their mother tells me that I can’t go in the sleeping bag with him. I didn’t understand why not. That was my first introduction/lesson to the rules of Yichud.

Then other times when we had sleepovers we would play truth and dare, and something secretive always came out.

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Getting Lost

At what age can you send children on errands alone?

I was 8 years old when I went with my brother to the bike shop to get our bikes fixed. I found the way there, we gave in my brother’s bike to be fixed and were then on our way home. When my brother suddenly had a brilliant idea “I remember a shortcut” he said. So I trustingly went with him on his “shortcut” route. After a while I realized we were lost. I remember land marks that I had passed that signaled my being lost. So we got to a unfamiliar place and I was afraid so I started crying. My brother tried to be all brave about it, but it must of been hard on him since I was crying. Then a African-American lady sees that I’m crying and she asks what’s wrong. I told her we were lost. So she called the cops from a pay phone at the corner. (It was the days before cell phones). Then the police comes. The police man took my brother and dumped him in the trunk of the car, this frightened me at the time, but I guess they were just trying to play around and lighten the mood a bit. Then they took him out of the trunk and we both went into the car. They drove us home, and I remember my mother sitting down with us, giving us a drink and telling us we can’t leave the house again that day. Happens to be, now I’m always by the place I got lost, because that’s where my college is.

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Fake Vs. Real

What do you think children prefer fake stuff or real stuff?

You’d be surprised but most children will be happier with the .25 ring from the machine than a real ring from the Jewelry store.

When I was younger my mother signed me up at the y to take gymnastics. I’m not sure why, but she offered me a reward if I go. I had remembered going to a girl’s house where she had a fake blow dryer and hair accessories, and I had enjoyed playing with it. So when my mother asked what I wanted as a prize, I told her a blow dryer. So what did she do? she bought me a real blow dryer! I was a bit disappointed at that, cause it wasn’t like the one my friend had. But I didn’t say anything, and pretended I was happy about it. Later on though I actually used it and was happy that I had my own real blow dryer!

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Medicine

At what age should children learn to swallow pills?

All my life I had always had liquid medicine. I didn’t like the taste of chewable ones and I never tried swallowing. So long as they had a liquid version I was fine. But then came the time when I was 16 and I got a root canal, and that really hurt, and the dentist gave me pain killers for that. The pain killers however only came in pills to swallow. I was sitting there on the dentist chair, thinking to myself, “O, no, I don’t know how to swallow!”. With my dentists persisting, I took the pill put it in my mouth and behold I was able to swallow it! I was so surprised and proud of myself that I had this look on my face, that I couldn’t believe what I had just accomplished. Although after that when I tried swallowing pills again it was much harder and didn’t go so easily, so I guess the first time was luck.

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Shirt Buttons

Ever noticed that boy and girl shirt buttons are on opposite sides?

I always wondered why that was. I guess it’s to make it easier for the mother doing laundry to tell which white shirts are boy shirts and which are girl shirts. Although most shirts obviously have different styles, so the side of the buttons shouldn’t be the deciding factor.

While I’m on the topic of clothes and different boy girl ways, I decided that tucking in a shirt by girls just doesn’t look good, and I think it’s even untznius. Although by boys I think tucked in shirts are fine and even look more put together. By girls though I like tucked out shirts better, or at least a jacket or sweater on top of the shirt.

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Exercise

One day I was outside and saw three little kids outside walking very fast. I asked them what their up to, and they said they were exercising cause they didn’t want to get fat. So they jogged around the block a couple of times. They were all into it and serious about it, I thought it was really cute. They made a schedule and a couple of times a week they would jog around the block and do exercises.

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Playing in the street

Do you think children should be allowed to play in the street?

I’m always surprised when I see young children playing in the street, whether it’s a ball game, or just running back and forth. I can’t believe the mother’s let their children play in the street like that. It scares me all the time, and whenever I see my younger siblings playing around in the street I tell them they have to go out of the street. Unless the street is closed down I think it’s unsafe. I tried explaining to the kids that they shouldn’t be playing in the street, but they say that they will be careful, and they will watch out for cars. I tried explaining that nobody gets into an accident on purpose, but they don’t understand it.

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“It’s a Piece of Junk”

I find many times when children get frustrated with a toy/object and they can’t figure out how it works, they call it a piece of junk. They put the blame on the object. Lot’s of times it’s just that they didn’t read the instructions/directions. Or they didn’t take good care of it. So instead of admitting its their fault, they call it a piece of junk hoping to get some sympathy to get a new one or not get blamed for what they had broken.

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Cute kid voices

Adon Olam

The first kid singing had a really cute voice. Before this song he sang “Halleli Elokayich Tzion” and instead of saying “L” he would say “w” so it was so cute to hear him say “Hawewi Ewokayich Tzion”. Anyways, the second boy, is a kid I used to babysit, and the first kid was his cousin. The second kid really has a great voice, not sure if you can tell from this video.

“The Wheels on the Bus” and “The Itsy Bitsy Spider”

This kid is 4 years old, she actually just turned 4. She is one interesting little kid, her voice sounds so sweet you would think she's such a well behaved kid. But she's actually very tough in her negotiations! She threatened that she won't be my friend if I be mean to her and tell her she has to go to sleep. But then the next day when I go over to her she begs me to sit next to her and for me to hold her and everything.