Most of you would know by now that my family and I are Jewish. Not the kind that just dabble in their religion but people that really TRY to live and breathe it. We have a kosher home, go to Synagogue from time to time, look forward to the weekly Sabbath from about midweek and really try to immerse ourselves in Judaism. My husband and I don’t always agree on our observance level but often it comes back to Tevye from Fiddler on the Roof’s favourite saying “tradition”. It is also a great excuse for family to come together time and time again so as long as you like your family – you are bound to enjoy the festivals and all that comes with it.
Tonight we all come together for Rosh Hashanah or Jewish New Year. And just like regular New Years Eve on December 31st I find myself reflecting on the year that was as well as having premonitions about the year coming. I know a lot of you say that you enjoy my blogs because you can relate to them, because they aren’t all rosy and make motherhood look like a walk in the park and I’m certainly not saying it is. But this blog isn’t one of those. It’s more about one of the blogs that I write for myself rather than those that follow them. It is about me being thankful because sometimes I think we could all just stop, breathe and look at what we have. Not to look at the size of our mortgage, our day care fees or stress about work.
This last year has been an absolute turning point for my family. My husband has finished studying and passed his exams, which means for the first time really he is a present father. I am loving watching him enjoy his children. Of course he has always enjoyed them but it’s on a different level now. I have literally watched him unwind in front of me. Bit by bit he has unravelled like a ball of string. No more guilt that he should be studying, no more insane late nights because he just had to cram some more info in, he is just around and present. I feel that we are united as a team and completely have each other’s backs.
The other turning point has been the girl’s ages. Once I wore the badge of two children under two. I have made it no secret that it was sometimes the hardest badge ever but now it is the biggest blessing I could ever hope for. I am enjoying motherhood in an entirely new way. I am loving going out with no nappy bag, sitting in a restaurant as a family, occasionally skipping day naps if we are enjoying our outing and I’m feeling a sense of freedom that I sometimes didn’t think would be possible as a mother of young children.
We also have just moved into a new house (which I will NEVER do again!) so this new years is really about new beginnings for us as a family and I couldn’t be happier about it.
I normally don’t actually make any new years resolutions, it just isn’t my style to make promises that I am never likely to keep and this year is no exception. I know the things I need to work on both personally and professionally. Making bold statements about what I SHOULD be doing just sets me up for feeling like a failure so I’m not going to even attempt it.
On Rosh Hashanah we wish each other a “sweet new year”, we even eat honey and sweet food as something tangible for this. So instead of just eating all the delicious sweet foods I am actually going to concentrate on all the sweet things in my life… My amazing and dedicated husband and my sweet little girls of course. Their personalities are flourishing and whilst sometimes we may butt heads a little as all mothers and daughters do, they make me smile every morning and leave me reflecting on all the special moments at night.
So whether you are celebrating or not I’m wishing you all a sweet new year.. May your blessings be highlighted for you so that you can see them clearly. May you and all your loved ones be healthy and happy and bring smiles to you each and every day.
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