August 13, 2024
Starting Them Off Young
May 19, 2023
April 23, 2023
Out with the Baby; In with the Fries!
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Out with the Baby; In with the Fries!
June 12, 2022
Why I Cry At Circumcisions
Circumcision reminds me of Abraham, our forefather, who was tested and told to sacrifice his beloved son, Isaac, to G-d. It is truly counter-intuitive for a parent to hurt or sacrifice their child. Yet, this is exactly how G-d tested Abraham before the angel of G-d told him not to raise his hand to Isaac, and instead Abraham then offered to G-d a ram that was caught in the thicket. However, when it comes to circumcision, we are also tested and actually are commanded to surgically remove the male child’s foreskin and as the baby cries out, every parent, no matter how faithful and religiously devoted, winces and feels deeply inside for their child’s pain, even if it is only momentary and soothed by a sip of kosher Kedem Concord Grape wine.The rite of the circumcision is an incredible transcendental religious experience, where our very faith is tested and we go against our own physical instincts to protect the child, no matter what, and instead we submit ourselves to G-d Almighty, the Master of the Universe to perform the circumcision, because He told us to. Whether there are medical benefits or not, G-d commands, and we obey. We are His people, and his thoughts and plans are infinitely greater than ours. At the circumcision, in an act of complete faith, we graciously give over our male children and ourselves—in body, mind, and soul to G-d. We renounce our desires, our gratification, our very instincts, and put ourselves in G-d’s merciful hands. In that moment of selfless giving, we fulfill our covenant of generations with G-d and we affirm our holiness as individuals and as a nation.
(Photo Credit: Avital Pinnick; https://www.flickr.com/photos/spindexr/4678468852/)
Why I Cry At Circumcisions
October 20, 2021
Politically Incorrect Ointment
Didn't think any legitimate product would actually be named "Butt Paste."
Can you imagine going up to the pharmacist and asking:
Do you have any butt paste?
Pharmacist:
Oh yes, it's in Aisle 7. Do you want me to show you where it is?
Now, we're really going down a rabbit's hole! ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Politically Incorrect Ointment
August 27, 2021
Cycle of Life - From Birth to Death
Amazing representation of the cycle of life.
How we start and how we finish.
Everything in the universe (G-d) is one! ;-)
(Credit Photo: via Facebook)
Cycle of Life - From Birth to Death
January 18, 2021
November 7, 2020
Colorful Balloons
A lady with a baby and a bouquet of colorful balloons.
Really like how the colors of the balloons accent her shawl, scarf, and dress.
Even the dreary "olden days" are made more cheery with these colorful balloons.
I'll take a dozen of those today and every day for a good while to come! ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Colorful Balloons
August 29, 2020
Teaching Kids To You Know What
Mini toilets to teach the kids to go potty.
The big pot can probably be scary for a little kid.
Don't want them to end up falling in and whoosh!
Ok, not funny!
Seriously though, these little training toilets are cute.
Honestly, I think there are some adults that need some potty training too.
Yes, you know who you are! ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Teaching Kids To You Know What
February 28, 2020
Baby Shower Centerpiece
All those rolled up and tiered diapers and baby toys.
Creative and fun-looking and the couple having the baby gets to keep all the goodies and put them to good use hopefully.
Nice to celebrate even with smelly diapers to be. ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Baby Shower Centerpiece
February 14, 2020
Israel 2020: Day 5
They had exhibit called States of Extreme.
I found some really cool exhibits and ideas there.
Sort of felt my mind being expanded by it, which is I suppose one of the purposes of going to this.
Two of my favorite from today:
1) The chair with people legs and
2) The Fanuc robotic arm feeding the baby in the crib.
Hope you enjoy these as much as I did.
And Shabbat Shalom to everyone from the Holy Land!
(Credit Photos: Andy Blumenthal)
Israel 2020: Day 5
July 5, 2019
Shabbat Shalom Baby!
Shabbat Shalom Baby!
December 29, 2017
When The Wires Get Crossed
I'm sitting toward the front of the plane...more room, that's good.
But there are a bunch of families with small children and babies...and that ends up being bad.
The flight attendants bring out this contraption to hook up a crib device to a front wall of the plane for the parents to put the baby in to sleep.
But there ends up being one small problem.
The overhead lights are seriously messed up.
This passenger with the baby tries to use his button next to his seat to turn the bright reading lights off--this is like row 10 or something.
But when he hits the lights off button--instead the lights go off in row 22.
And they stay on in his row keeping his baby awake and crying virtually the whole flight.
The stewardesses are going crazy trying to figure out where the "wires got crossed" here.
When they go to row 22 and ask them to turn off their lights--thinking maybe that will turn off the lights in row 10 that is keeping the baby up and crying--but instead that turns off the lights further in the back of the plane in row 30-something.
This was a really bad comedy going on this plane.
The baby keeps crying and crying.
The stewardesses keep running around trying to figure out how to get the lights working where they are supposed to be working.
And the parents are frustrated as hell trying to calm the baby and get some rest on this lengthy, cross-ocean flight.
Needless-to-say, all the other passengers trying to get some rest weren't thrilled at this ridiculousness going on.
The plane got us home, but the electrical system didn't inspire any confidence and kept the baby (and us) up almost the entire flight.
When you think that this was just the lights--oh boy!
Because what if the wires had gotten crossed between something important like the accelerator and the brake instead? ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
When The Wires Get Crossed
November 9, 2017
Couple Arguing Loudly About Sex and Pregnancy On The DC Metro {Funny}
This couple is arguing loudly in front of everyone on the Metro in Washington, D.C.
She claims the coming baby is his, and that he needs to take a paternity test.
He says it's impossible that it's his because she's 3 months pregnant and they haven't had sex in 5 months!
This goes on and on in a most hilarious and boisterous way, and they even try and involve some of the innocent bystanders on the train.
Always a show in this crazy town and it's not just the politics! ;-)
(Source Video: Andy Blumenthal)
Couple Arguing Loudly About Sex and Pregnancy On The DC Metro {Funny}
June 23, 2016
Bird In The Bush
Bird In The Bush
May 7, 2015
Parenting@CVS
The baby looks like it's trying to escape from the red shopping basket, but presumably the mother at the cashier is going...
"And I'll take one baby with the bottle of milk and Chiclets, thank you!"
Hey look at all that candy kid...this is better than Charlie and the Chocolate Factory!
(Source Photo: Dannielle Blumenthal)
Parenting@CVS
May 28, 2013
Welcome To The World
According to Discovery News, the baby was flushed down a toilet...alive!
Residents heard the cries of the baby from the 4th floor bathroom.
Firefighters sawed away sections of a 10 cm pipe with the 2-day old baby inside.
The baby had been in the pipe at least 2 hours--I am amazed it didn't drown.
The baby was brought to the hospital and put in an incubator and luckily, the baby survived.
I am sorry for the parent(s) who you'd think must've gone through hell before doing something this drastic.
And while I don't like to judge or be judged, however unwanted this pregnancy or unprepared the parents were for this new child--there has got to be better ways to deal with it than this.
An early abortion or giving the child up for adoption is just two options, and struggling to keep the child is a third.
Maybe the parent(s) thought they could save the baby from even a worse fate living in poverty, born out of wedlock, or violating the one-child per family policy--but it is still hard to imagine taking an innocent, helpless infant and doing something so cruel and disgusting.
How will this child grow up, knowing it was thrown away like this by its own parents? What type of self-worth will it have? How will it feel and act towards others in society having been acted on this way?
There are so many monsters out there...killers, rapists, abusers (many serial)--do we wonder where they came from?
I remember learning people are product of nature and nurture--in this case, there was certainly no nurture, quite the contrary...and it will take at least a normal new home, where they are treated like children and not waste products for this child to have a fighting chance. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Welcome To The World
October 12, 2012
Then Came The Baby In The Baby Carriage
A baby carriage in the middle of this busy driveway.
And yes, there is a baby in it!
The lady who I assume was the mother was potchkeying around in her car.
Yes, I understand--it's not easy to get the baby in the babyseat, if that's what she was about to do.
But that doesn't mean you leave a baby stroller out there in the middle of the road like that.
And with a car turning down the way on top of it.
People are unbelievable--and the poor children suffer for the mistakes of the elders.
First comes loves, then comes marriage, then comes a baby endangered in the baby carriage--scary.
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Then Came The Baby In The Baby Carriage