Cute Quote: Too much food!

One Shabbos a couple of weeks ago, Yisrael didn't finish off all of his cholent (KA"H he is a great eater and this usually doesn't happen.)

Mommy:  Yisrael, please finish your cholent so I can give you dessert!
Yisrael: But my stomach is going to burst if I eat any more!*
Mommy: Then why did you take so much?
Yisrael: Because my new glasses make things look smaller than they really are, so it didn't look like so much when I took it!

Since then we've made sure to warn him that he shouldn't take too much just because of his glasses' distortion!

* Theoretical question- did you ever wonder how kids whose stomachs are so full that they are about to burst, somehow manage off to polish off their dessert without any difficulty whatsoever?

Cute Quote: I don't want to go to sleep!

One afternoon, Nissim took a late nap, so he wasn't at all interested in going to sleep at his regular bedtime. Also not when it was his older siblings' bedtime (which is always later than its supposed to be!)  He was too busy 'reading' a pile of books on the couch, fiddling with my cell phone, and looking for snacks to eat.  When my bedtime was approaching, I finally decided it was time to get him in bed.

(this conversation took place in Hebrew, as Nissim's speech therapist suggested that we stick to one language to help his speech develop, which B"H it has)

Mommy: ... נסים, עכשיו צריכים ללכת
Nissim: !באוטו
Mommy: ...לא, מתוק, האוטו לא פה עכשיו.  צריכים ללכת
Nissim (with his eyes all lit up, not missing a beat): !אוטובוס

(Editor's note: buses are SO much more fun than cars, especially if you own a car so a bus ride is a rare treat!)

I had a good laugh (along with Yael Chava Berlinger, who was visiting with us for a few days) and finally convinced Nissim that we were not going anywhere else except for his bed.  He B"H complied, albeit begrudgingly.

Cute Quote: What's in a name?

Yehuda Leib defintely lives up to his name- that kid is strong like a lion!  He is very aggressive too- he's gotten very good at grabbing things from every member of the family....

This morning, Yehuda Leib pulled a bag of nails off of the dining room table and spilled them all over the floor.  B"H I was right there and started picking up the nails, putting them back in the bag.  Yehuda Leib crawled over to me, and started grabbing the bag away from me- I was suprised at how much I had to wrestle with him to get him to let go- that kid is REALLY strong!  As I was pulling the bag away from him, I found myself blurting out this most ridiculous statement:

"Oy, I am never going to name any of my children Yehuda Leib ever again!"

Cute Quote: Pronunciation Problems

Both Bruria and Azriel Shraga are learning how to read this year, but since the boys learn with a yeshivishe pronunciation, and the girls learn with an Israeli pronunciation, it often causes confusion (and arguments!)

Bruria, listening to Azriel reading his Kriah homework:

Bruria:  That's not how you read that word!  Its "OH" not "OIY"!
Azriel:  That's how my Rebbe says it!
Bruria:  הרבי שלך לא יודע
Azriel:  הוא כן יודע- Right, Mommy?
Mommy:  Bruria, Azriel is right- we say it "OIY"
Bruria: (making a face and shaking her shoulders) But my Morah says "OH"!
Mommy:  Bruria, your Morah is also right!
Bruria:  But how can they both be right?  זה שטויות!

(we've had conversations along these lines more than once - with ת being pronounced "t" vs. "s", and קמץ being pronounced as "ah" vs. "uh")

Disclaimer:  I'm really not sure how to address the issue- especially since I don't really understand or agree with why the Bais Yaakov system has pretty much across the board adopted the מזרחי pronunciation, even though all their male counterparts use a Yeshivishe pronunciation.  But since we can't fight the system, we do our best to explain to the children that there is a big difference between modern day עברית and לשון הקודש.

Cute Quote: Love and Marriage

After getting a very exciting phone call from my sister Adele and her (at that time unofficial) Chassan Yakov, I told the kids who had called, and why:

Mommy:  Do you know who that was on the phone?
Kids: Who?  תגידי לנו!
Mommy:  It was Adele Minkus- do you remember her?
Kids: Yes! 
Mommy:  Do you want to know why she called?
Kids:Yes!  Yes!  Tell us!
Mommy:  She called to tell me that she found a Chassan and she's going to have a Chasuna!
Bruria:  They're going to have a Chasuna?  Do they love each other?
Mommy:  Yes!

Here, I paused, watching their faces, waiting for a smile, a smirk, a giggle, or an inappropriate comment.  I figured I'd have some really good "Cute Quote" material here.

But no one smirked, smiled, giggled, or commented.  Apparently, Bruria's question, and my response, didn't strike them as funny or inappropriate.

And that's when I realized that this was the cutest quote of all.  For my children, the concept of love and marriage hasn't been tainted by Disney or Hollywood.   Their understanding of the concept is exactly what it truly is, without being poisoned by Western society's perverted views.  To them, love is what exists in a home home where a Mommy and Tatty live in harmony (most of the time at least!) working together to achieve their goals and raise a family with happiness and devotion. 

I was so touched to realize how lucky I am, to be able to raise my children in such a beautiful atmosphere of קדושה, where they can appreciate the values so inherent in our תורה הקדושה, without having been poisoned by negative influences.

And on that note, my bracha to Adele and Yakov, as they begin to plan their בית נאמן בישראל, is that they too should be zoche to build a home where תורה values ring true, without any negative השפעות!

Cute Quote: Who gets to learn תורה?

I held my breathe this morning as I got Yisrael ready for Cheder - with the rest of the family on vacation (except for Nissim), I was worried that he would get upset and not want to go to Cheder.  I packed him up some nice snacks, and was very gentle with him, not wanting to upset him.  As the clock got closer and closer to 7:30, I was wondering (and silently davening!)-  how I was going to convince Yisrael to go to the bus stop alone- he usually goes with Bentzi since they both catch a bus at the same time.  B"H Hashem answered my תפילות in the best possible way:

Yisrael:  Oy, its almost 7:30 already!  Where is Tatty?  We are going to be late for our buses! 
Mommy: (cautiously) Yisrael sweetie, Tatty isn't going on the bus today...he has vacation today.
Yisrael: YESH!  I'm the only one who's going learn תורה today!  I am the luckiest person in our whole family!  Quick, Mommy- give me my תיק - I have to hurry so I won't be late!

And he cheerfully ran out the door, on his way to go learn תורה!  (Not quite the standard scene depicted in  חז"ל of תינוק הבורח מבית הספר!)  Imagine my relief- and happiness- at such a sweet reaction!  May he always have such a חשק to learn תורה!  (I sure hope this scenario repeats itself for the next few days, and that I don't חס ושלום get an עין הרע for posting this!)
 
(I didn't bother mentioning that the reason Tatty didn't come back from Davening yet was because he WAS busy learning תורה at that very moment!)

Cute Quote: What makes you fat?

Bruria's been commenting a lot lately on my growing abdomen- she has yet to ask me anything directly, but she's awful suspicious....here was an adorable conversation we had one day last week, as we were walking home from Gan:

Bruria:  Mommy, your belly is SO שמן!
Mommy:  That's because I'm an *אמא שמנטוז!
Bruria:  But Mommy, you don't eat so many potato chips!
Mommy:  Potato chips, Bruria?  What does that have to do with anything?!
Bruria:  Because if you eat a lot of potato chips, it makes you get fat!  But you don't eat so many potato chips, Mommy!  I think your belly is so big because there's a baby inside!

*שמנטוז is Israeli slang for "fatso"- although I'm not sure how its really spelled!

Cute Quote: Mr. Show-Off

Nissim was walking around with his walking toy (thank you Aunt Dinah, he is really enjoying it!) - and I like to cheer him on to encourage him to keep going.  Today we had the following cute scene:

Mommy:  Kinderlach, look- Nissim is walking!  Everyone clap for Nissim!
Azriel Shraga:  Why should we clap for him?
Mommy:  Because it makes him happy when we clap, and then he'll walk even more!
(a few seconds pass by)
Naftali:  (starts to walk around in an exagerrated way) LOOK!  I'm walking!!

I guess everyone likes a little recognition every now and then!

Cute Quote: What kind of Jew are you?

On Shabbos, we were discussing the various different minhagim you'll find across the different "sects" of Yidden, come Pesach time.  I was explaining to the kids that the ice cream we had for dessert was not Chometz, but it has kitniyos in it- so even though we can't eat it on Pesach, ספרדים can.

Then one of the kids asked, "What are we?"

At first, I answered "אשכנזים" and then I added that we are also "ליטאים".  To which Bentzi interjected- "Well, we're also somewhat חסידים" (we don't eat Gebroks and we daven נוסח ספרד).

Naftali, listening to the conversation, had one thing to say - "אנחנו טעים"- and he continued to eat his ice cream!

And you know what?  He's right!  No matter if we're ליטאים or חסידים or אשכנזים or ספרדים ...to Hashem, we are all חביבים (which I guess is similar enough to 'yummy')!

Cute Quote: What am I?

Naftali has really been picking up Hebrew in Cheder, and his siblings like to test him. They'll name a certain item in Hebrew and ask him where it is- either he'll point and say "פה" or "שמה", or if he doesn't know he'll say "לא (יו)דע". Its really cute to see.

But the cutest was this when they asked him if he's a "ילד" and he responded, "!אני לא ילד- אני גדול"

Cute Quote: Upsherin Essentials

As I was dressing Naftali after the bath on erev Shabbos, I realized its one of the last times we'll be combing his hair, as his upsherin is fast approaching!  We started talking about his upcoming "Chalakah":

Mommy:  Naftali, soon you're going to have a Chalakah!  And then you'll have Peyos!  And...
Naftali: a Pekelah!
Mommy:  Yes, a Pekalah!  And Tzitzis!  And...
Naftali: Tztizis!  And Pekelah!
Mommy: Yes, a Pekalah! And a Yarmulka! And...
Naftali: Yarmulka!  And Pekelah!

Can you guess what he's most excited about?!

(We'll try to post some pictures here after his haircut - of him, not the pekelah...so stay tuned!)

Cute Quote: Which Gan are you in?!

Azriel Shraga's ganenets this year are both named "Chaya".  So whenever someone asks him whose Gan he's in, he answers, "גן החיות"!

(Nice way to describe a group of boisterous 4 year old boys, no?!)

Cute Quote: Brain Pain

The other day I sat down and taught Yisrael how to play Sudoku.  I showed him a few tactics and then let try and see if he was able to fill in any of the numbers.  He worked at it for a few minutes, managed to fill in a few numbers (what he did was right!) but then he came to me and said, "Mommy, I need to stop now- its making my sechel hurt!"

I'm going to give him some 4x4 and 6x6 Sudokus and let him get used to those, before I give him another 9x9 one...

Cute Quote: If you learn in Yeshiva all day...

...that means that you must be an expert storyteller!

(by bedtime)
Yunger kinder: Tatty, tell us a story!
Tatty: Oy, kinderlach, not tonight!  I can't think of any stories!
Yisrael:  But Tatty, you know so many stories!
Tatty:  I do?!
Yisrael:  Yes, Tatty!  You learn גמרא in Yeshiva and the גמרא has SO many stories, Tatty!  Tell us a story from גמרא שבת! 

I hate to break it to Yisrael learning isn't all fun and games (and stories!) - its actually hard work!

Cute Quote: Let me make trouble!

I'm sure I'm not the only one out there that get's pre-occupied while on the computer.  Sometimes I'll get so involved that I don't realize what's going on around me- much to my children's delight!

One day this week I was working, when I happened to glance up and notice that Azriel Shraga had climbed onto the kitchen counter and was stealing chocolate.  As soon as I noticed, and began to reprimand him, he said to me, "Mommy, go do some more work!"

Ever since then, when he wants to make trouble or take something without permission, he tells me, "Mommy, go to your computer!" 

Humph!

Cute Quote: Mr. Know-it-All

We were discussing our exciting guests for this upcoming Shabbos (Chavi and Chana- we are REALLY looking forward!) and I told the kids that Aryeh isn't coming with them (had to warn them ahead of time so they wouldn't get dissappointed- no rocketship rides and "bum-bum-bum-bum-BUM").  I was about to tell them why he wasn't coming, when Yisrael piped up:

Yisrael:  Because he's going to a Chasuna!
Mommy:  How did you know that?
Yisrael: Because I know!
Mommy:  Who told you?
Yisrael: No one, I just know!
Mommy:  How did you know if no one told you?
Yisrael: Because I have רוח הקודש!

What do you have to say to that?!

Cute Quote: Have you ever seen a diaperless diaper rash?

Well Azriel Shraga claims he has one!  This morning, Naftali woke up with a dirty diaper that must have been sitting there for some time...and he had a terrible rash.  After cleaning him up, I gently put on cream and powder.  I guess Azriel Shraga decided that he wanted to be pampered too (pun intended) since he right away started asking for cream:

Azriel Shraga: Mommy, I also need cream on my tushy!
Mommy:  Azriel Shraga, you don't need cream because you don't have a diaper rash! 
Azriel Shraga: I DO have a diaper rash!
Mommy:  But Azriel Shraga, you don't have a diaper!

He didn't know what to say to that...although he still wanted the cream!  (So much so that while I was typing this up, he ran to the bathroom and smeared vaseline all over his tushy!  I'd better stop blogging and go clean up afer him!)

Cute Quote: Lost in time!

Today Azriel Shraga had a מסיבת חנוכה in Cheder.  Yesterday, he was SO excited for his מסיבה- he kept asking me when it would be:

Azriel Shraga: When is my מסיבה?
Mommy:  Your מסיבה is tomorrow, Azriel Shraga.
Azriel Shraga: Tomorrow is today?
Mommy: No, sweetie, today is today and tomorrow is tomorrow.
Azriel Shraga: (confused) So when is my מסיבה?
Mommy: After you go to sleep, and the morning comes, then you're going to have a מסיבה.

Early this morning, while I was still in bed, Azriel Shraga came to my room:

Azriel Shraga: Mommy, its the morning!
Mommy: Yes, sweetie! What is today?
Azriel Shraga: Today is tomorrow!

Cute Quote: What do you like to drink?

One Shabbos, Bentzi brought out a bottle of Wild Turkey (thanks to Zaidy, who bought it from the Duty Free shop on his way to E"Y).  The kids, who are used to seeing a  bottle of Jack Daniels, took interest in this new "Tatty Juice".

Azriel Shraga:  Tatty, what is that?

Bruria (looking at the bottle): Its chicken juice!
Azriel Shraga:  I LOVE chicken juice!

Tatty proceeded to give Azriel Shraga a drop of "chicken juice" to taste- after which he immediately changed his mind:  He does NOT love chicken juice!

Cute Quotes: Is there such a thing as verbal dyslexia?

Well if there, is, then I think that my kids have it!  You're likely to hear the following in my house:

"Mommy, I shinifed my fornclakes"
"When will my piccups go away?  Its bothering me!"
"Can we bake puccakes for Shabbos?"

Or the best one yet:

(Bruria is playing with Naftali, who's in his crib)
Bruria:  Beekapoo!
Mommy: Bruria dear, you're supposed to say "peekaboo" not "beekapoo"!
Bruria: Nuh-uh, Mommy, I'm saying it in Ivrit!