Comment
So Much to Do,
So Little Time
ERICA MEYER RAUZIN SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
I
sat down at the computer this morn- ways the same word. He didn't even care
ing with a cup of decaf and a long list if old Dad, as usual, was still in the van
of things to do. Letters had to be writ- trying to figure out what was going on
ten. Various projects were pulling at while Tim and the pig were already at
me, from writing newsletter stories to de- the pit. He didn't care if the whole idea
signing an alumni magazine. If I man- of a child and a pig at a pit seemed dan-
aged to stay very focused, I had some gerous to Mommy. He was delighted that
chance of standing up three or four hours he could read. And so was I. But when
later with big chunks knocked off my he zoomed off at his usual pace, pig, pit
Things to Do list.
and all, I still had a mountain of work to
I had just started banging away at the do.
keyboard when my 6-year-old rushed into
the study. "Mom, Mom, look at me read
this. I can read all of this." He climbed
up on my lap with a mangled pack of sta-
pled-together pages, a story his teacher
had given him. He poked his grimy, stub-
by little index finger at the first word and
began to read:
So I got another cup of decaf and pro-
"The pig ran to the van.
ceeded. I had typed a paragraph or so
Tim ran to the van.
when my newly minted teen-ager came
The pig hid.
in. "I don't have anything to wear and I
The pig ran to the pit.
can't leave this house for the rest of my
Tim ran to the pit.
life," she announced.
Dad sat in the van.
"OK," I said, trying to be agreeable.
He had it down precisely, even if the "You can stay."
word he was "reading' and the word he
That was not the kind of agreement
was pointing to on the page weren't al- she wanted. What she wanted was for
I must try to
stay focused.
me to spend a half-hour looking at all the
cool things in the newest catalogues.
What she wanted was to engage in lav-
ish fantasies about briefly stylish things
to be ordered, purchased, procured, and
worn. What she wanted, not that she
knew it, was Mom's reassurance that she
was beautiful, beloved, and had many
things to wear ... most of which needed
to be picked up off her floor and ironed
before new acquisitions could be re-
quested from central supply. At the men-
tion of actual housework, she tossed her
hair and slammed away, immensely sat-
isfied.
So I got another cup, leaded this time;
the decaf didn't seem up to the challenge.
I started to type. The cat rubbed my an-
kles, so I fed her. The dog flopped beside
me to chew thoughtfully on my main
power cord, so I fed her, too.
I heard a loud screech and bounded
out of the office and into the living room.
My 10-year-old was on the couch hugging
her left foot and screaming. The massive
leather couch, which has not budged
since we vacuumed for Passover, had
jumped out in front of her and attacked
her toe. She was injured and indignant;
she even mustered a drop or two of blood
for authentication of nursing need.
By the time I bandaged her toe,
soothed her feelings, and swept under
the couch (don't ask), my splendid quiet
morning, set aside for writing and work,
had evaporated completely. My Things
To Do list smirked at me.
I hadn't gotten a thing done.
Or had I? ❑
Make Holiday
Dreams Come True
Interfaith Service
For Thanksgiving
The ninth annual Greater Detroit In-
terfaith Thanksgiving Service will be held
7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 27, at St.
James Catholic Church on Woodward
and Pearson, Ferndale.
Dr. Stanley Kirschner of Temple
Emanu-El will sound the shofar during
the service, and Lee Schottenfels of Tem-
ple Kol Ami will read from the sayings of
Hillel.
Other participants will represent the
Baha'i, Christian, Hindu, Islamic and
Universalist faiths.
Nonperishable food donations will be
accepted at the service for the Gleaners
Community Food Bank, and monetary
donations will go to Habitat for Human-
ity.
Correction
In the Up Front article Nov. 15 on
Jews for Jesu.s, the estimated n u m-
ber of Jews involved in "messian-
ic" congregations was incorrectly
stated. Mark Powers ofJews for Ju-
daism says Jews for Jesus litera-
ture often claims 250,000 Jews, not
25,000, are involved.
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