DC Metro Moms

Life Cycles Big and Small

Life cycles are events that mark major moments in our lives.  My daughter's next big “event” will be her bat mitzvah in eight years and I am putting in black and white now that she will not have the "wedding" (aka- over the top, need a second mortgage) equivalent of a bat mitzvah party.  It is a big deal for sure, but being thirteen does not entitle her to an event fit for a queen.  In the meantime, I wonder about the smaller events that mark the transitions as she gets older and it occurs to me that in the span of the next few months we are going to hit some MAJOR small events that, at least in this moment, seem HUGE. 

Now, you may wonder, what small events could rank up there with the coming of age.  In our case, there are three:  a loose tooth, the transition to a big girl bike (think two wheels instead of four) and then, becoming a kindergartner!  It is true, I think that these may be more important to us as adults than they are too her (especially the bike—she is not all that excited about moving to a bike without training wheels)….but for me, suddenly my little girl seems SO much bigger.  As I try to prepare for these events I have to admit that for a few brief moments I merged these two events. I am embarrassed to admit it, but as I hit the trail this morning for a run, I had the idea that maybe the big girl bike could be from the tooth fairy.  Yes, I came to my senses pretty quickly, (I blame my runners high)….and realized that this might just set a bad precedent.

Why is this Easter different from all other Easters?

Because we're going to the White House Easter Egg Roll. When I told one of my friends I was going to write up a post about it, she warned, "Be careful when you blog about it, you know how some readers are, they will wonder why you are going because you're Jewish. And they might get pissed off."  True. But will these folks also question why the Obama's hosted a Passover Seder at the White House last Monday and non-Jews, including the First Family, attended? 

The answer to both, as I see it, is sharing a celebration is different than actually observing it yourself.  I strongly believe when you are invited to participate in someone else's holiday tradition, it is an honor to attend.  We were invited to attend the White House Easter Egg Roll by Blue Star Families who provided tickets to military families, such as our own.  So we're going to go. And yes, even my own kids asked how this all was going to work because they obviously know they themselves are Red Sea Pedestrians. So I used an explanation I learned a few years ago from a friend of mine who is also in an inter-faith family (Remember, my husband is a Not. i.e. Not Jewish, Not anything else either).

Pope Benedict, From the Outside Looking In

I have been watching Pope Benedict's visit with great interest since he flew into town on Tuesday.  My interest had multiple levels. My immediate interest was on the security situation, since many of my colleagues were deeply involved in the operations... but to tell you the truth, my deepest interest is that of an outsider.  Not an outsider of a different faith, but of a different faith tradition.

You see, I'm a Lutheran.

If you have ever read my regular blog, you know that I talk about my faith from time to time, and you might even know how much it means to me.

The history of the Reformation is long and rather ugly, and it led to the schism between Rome and the "Protestants" and has forced apart Christians of many faith traditions.  The Reformation sparked wars of long duration and great violence on all fronts... nobody was clean.

Lost Catholic Mom Looking for Direction: Pope, Can you Help?

I found myself glued to the Pope's DC visit this morning while running on the treadmill. I even started to tear up a bit when I heard the familiar hymns. Maybe it was the number of people (46,000) who had flocked here or the perfect April day for the outdoor mass. Whatever it was I raced home to listen to the mass on NPR. The Pope is huge for Catholics, although the Catholic Church has been hit a bit in the past few years, the Pope still is such symbol of hope for me. My own hope of finding God in my changing life--now with young children. 

I was a child raised in the Catholic Church with parents who were noncommittal to the whole thing. They stopped taking me to church in 8th grade. By high school I missed it and found myself back, only going alone. I spent several years trying to decide what I believed and wanted to be a part of. During college, I was Confirmed Catholic and decided to make a go of it. My husband claims to be no religion, though raised in a fairly strict Catholic household agrees it's good for our kids to be raised Catholic and so we baptized them both in the Church.

But now I find myself lost again.