Making Babies

I have seen it all: accidental pregnancies and OCD planned pregnancies; fertile myrtles and test tube babies. If there’s anything I’ve learned, it’s that challenges with conceiving do not discriminate.

Which brings me to a pet peeve of mine. I get frustrated watching my friends who are over 35 and want to have a child but are not proactive about their fertility. Listen up friends — it doesn’t happen magically like in the movies and TV shows! And while I have known plenty of women over 35 who had no problems conceiving (myself included), time is not on your side. We have about 13 chances a year to get pregnant. That is not very much. You should know when ovulation day is nearby and get busy!

Seeking Peace On The Road

How did the Israelites maintain Shalom Bayit (peace in the home) as they wandered the desert for 40 years? I lose my patience after my husband got us lost for 40 minutes. Like the Israelites, my family has been nomadic for the past three weeks, and it has taken its toll on our Shalom Bayis.

We have schlepped from country to country, city to city, hotel to hotel. We had great fun doing this on our honeymoon just last year. This time around, with a budding toddler in tow, not so much. There are plenty of sources of tsures (trouble): the endless packing, unpacking, and repacking; Aiven’s crabbiness when his naps get disrupted by our irregular schedule; and the struggle to keep all of our stomachs full (not such an easy task when your child eats more than a plague of locusts and your husband is a vegan).