Tuesday, April 11, 2023

How Not To Start A Family Tradition

We hosted the first seder this year, and I wanted to begin as I did last year, with a bit of crafting. The idea is get G and the rest of the family in the mood with a fun, tactile activity. This year we honored the 5 women who made the Exodus possible by having each person pick one of their names from a bowl. Thanks to Rav Natan for the 'pick from a bowl' suggestion.

Things started off promising: we learned a bit about each of the women, and everyone went to work building their socket puppet. I do feel as though I need to apologize to the memory of Puah; she was my woman to honor and my sock puppet got off to a rough start.

It wasn't long before a fatal flaw in my plan was revealed: G managed to burn himself on one of the hot glue guns. Ouch.

A smear of burn cream and a bandaid got things back on track, but not before the absurdity of my project was on full display. Really Ben, multiple hot glue guns around a 3 year old; you thought this was a good idea?!

Once G was consoled, we put our project on hold and started the seder in earnest. It was delightful. G, with a bit of assistance from Dad asked the four questions and we had a fun, thoughtful and tasty (thanks babe!) evening. Other than starting off by giving my nephew a second degree burn, things went very well.

By the next night, new family lore had been added to our catalog. While discussing Exodus 12:11 which mentions the Israelites eating the Passover Sacrifice with staff's at hand, David suggested: "so next year, for crafting, shall we get out the knives and all whittle staffs?"

I was hoping each of us would end up with a cute puppet that reminded us of the seder and the remarkable women that made it possible. Instead, we added a collective family memory. It's not what I had in mind, but I'll take it!

Next year in Jerusalem! With nail guns :)

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