EdItoR's NoTe
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W
C
12/26
1997
58
T
here is a moment so distinct,
yet so obscure I can't pinpoint
We provide them with activities in math, reading, science and music. And since young
it, when something tender
children learn best through hands-on experience, it's a good idea to involve their feet, too.
about childhood ends. I'm glad to
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say
I have yet to really experience
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it, though I have had inklings.
Adina, who will turn 7 in three
weeks, was 5 when she asked me,
"Mommy, why do I have a Barney
backpack?" She didn't say it in a
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mean way, like, "What kind of idiot
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would get me a Barney backpack
when the very thought of the purple
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guy makes the skin crawl on every
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thinking person?" Instead, she said
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it as though, "Isn't this the kind of
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thing
that belongs with a toddler,
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like maybe my little brother?"
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Ah, I thought, as I wistfully
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watched her walk into her class at
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Akiva. She's growing up.
J
So we went shopping and came
back with two much more sophisti-
cated 101 Dalmatians backpacks
— one for Adina, one for Yitzhak
(he made it clear that despite being
younger he had no interest in that
— thing — the Barney backpack
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that went, instead, into the trash).
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For reasons I still don't under-
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stand, preparing my children's
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lunches is an emotional event for
me. Yes, I know what all those
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perky
"We're here to help you,
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busy Mom!" books and articles say:
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Fix
your children's lunches the night
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before. But then the sandwiches
and the chips get soggy sitting all
night in the refrigerator, and the fruit
ransform your favorite family
e
offer
one
of
a
kind
starts
to turn brown.
photos into unique keepsakes...
pillows, quilts & holiday items.
And so, each morning, my baby
baby • bride & groom • pets
perched on my left hip and our
• family heirloom photos.
tape player bringing those soothing
sounds
of Frank Sinatra into my
hoose from a variety of
kitchen, I prepare our children's
fabrics & trims.
lunches.
I put a lot of thought into
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the meal: something healthy like
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carrots, maybe applesauce, a
J-cmdri- )de
candy treat (small, but vital), latkes
pillows
e
gifts
e
antiques
if it's Chanukah or matzoh when it's
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Pesach, sometimes sunflower seeds
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with honey (a treat my husband cre-
ated).
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But the most important step is the
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art work. I'm not really a good artist,
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Jld
but every day, without fail, I take a
black, permanent marker and deco-
rate each plastic bag into which the
sandwich or carrots will be placed. I
draw butterflies, moons and stars,
pictures of myself followed by a heart
and a drawing of Yitz or Adina, and
little bunnies or birds.
As I draw, I think about my chil-
dren opening their lunches, eating
with their friends far away from me
at school. It makes them seem so
grown up, somehow, that they
could do this all alone, without me
there to help. That's why I make
those pictures, because then they
will look at the bags and think,
"Mommy loves me."
But I know that my time is limited.
Soon, Adina will come home and
say she has no interest in the lunch-
es I make, that she only wants the
pi77a and hot dogs the school
offers. Then it will be Yitz, who will
tell me he's embarrassed in front of
his friends when I write, "I love you"
and draw singing birds. Then these
pictures, like the Barney backpack,
will be relegated to the place of
Former Treasures of Childhood —
No Longer Wanted.
Several days ago Adina brought
home her lunch box still filled with
stuff. It was strange, because nor-
mally she empties everything out in
the trash at school (while Yitz
throws everything back in, from the
leftover bread crusts to the half-
eaten peach. "His lunch box smells
like throw-up," Adina regularly
announces).
"What is all this?" I asked.
"I'm sorry," she said. "But I just
couldn't throw out these bags you
made because they're so beautiful."
I bent down and brought her
close to me. Her soft cheek touch-
ing my own, her heart pressed to
mine, I held her as though I would
never let go. LI
Elizabeth Applebaum
AppleTree Editor