Upgrading our Chairs

Judaism is a religion of many festive meals and when you are the Rabbi/Rebbetzen, you have the privilege of hosting many people in your home for said meals. We bought a nice dining room set when we moved to NY five years ago but it has slowly taken a beating. Between the kids abusing them and the heavy rotation of guests we were having, it was looking bad.
I did the math and a conservative estimate would be about 8 people 40 weeks a year times 5 years, equals about 1600 people having sat in our chairs. So it would come as no surprise that they started looking something like this

Not sure if you can see but on the bottom, the fabric is ripped and the stuffing is showing

We realized something needed to be done. I started pricing reupholstering and found out it was actually not so cheap. We wavered back and forth but in the end decided it was necessary. Hosting people on ripped and dirty chairs was a bit embarrassing.
The chairs were picked up about a month ago and were delivered as good as new yesterday, just in time to host our first post-Pessach shabbos meal.
I decided to be bold and choose a different color. I am very happy with the result.

our new blue chairs- covered in plastic to last longer

I am actually looking forward to our meal tomorrow because we are hosting good friends rather than random people we do not know strangers.  Wishing you all a Good Shabbos!

Conference Day 2

I am too tired to give a really good summary of the sessions I attended today. Most of them were really excellent. Highlights include: planning your next 5 years, children with special needs (I could have given that session!), dealing with divorce in the Jewish community, and how to keep the Rabbinic family thriving and healthy.
My enjoyment was tempered a bit by the news that Y's finger got stuck in a door and was bleeding. The babysitter was able to stop the bleeding and calm him down, so I did not come home early, even though I really wanted to. Part of the reason was that I was depending on someone else for a ride back.
After several attempts to clean and get a better look at the cut, my husband and I determined that it does need to be seen by a doctor. We called the plastic surgeon we know and he told us that it can wait till the morning, assuming the bleeding stops and Y is not in too much pain. He fell asleep pretty quickly, so we will go see him at his office in the morning. Which is a good thing because I don't think I could get off the couch and out the door at this point anyway.
Walking in the door at 6 pm and then having to do books, bath and bedtime, not to mention dinner for the adults in the house is a real challenge for me. I guess if that is your daily routine, you get used to it and figure out ways to make it run more efficiently. It is probably also easier when you don't have a mini medical drama going on at the same time. The babysitter felt terrible and kept apologizing to me. I am not upset, because it was one of those scenarios where M was running in one direction and Y in the other. You cannot be in two places at one time and these things can happen so fast- it just takes a second. It could have happened to me.
I am off to do some dishes and unpack four boxes of my grocery delivery. Hoping to get to sleep at a decent hour so I can regroup for the doctor's appointment in the morning. Never a dull moment here.

Conference Day 1

I had a great but tiring day at the Rebbetzen's conference. This is my fourth year attending so I already know many of the women. It's kind of nice to catch up with them and see how their year has been, what big or small changes have occurred. Sometimes they have had a baby, sometimes  they have moved on to another community, but often things kind of stay the same.
As usual, some sessions were informative and interesting, others were less so. I have found that the panel presentations of older Rebbetzens and sessions where women have the opportunity to share and ask questions are the most helpful.You hear others describing their challenges and successes and can relate it to your own issues.
What is annoying is that sometimes there are two or three sessions going on concurrently, that I want to participate in. Alas, I can only be in one place at one time, so I try to gain what I can. Tomorrow there are definitely a few different topics I am interested in.
I do find it draining to spend all day sitting, listening to others talk. It is definitely enjoyable but tiring. Then I come home and have not seen my kids all day and I feel badly that we only have a half hour until they have to go to bed to catch up on the events of their schoolday.  I feel sad that I was not the one to pick them up from school or hear about their day as they have their snack, even if it is only for a day or two. The flipside of that is that I am very fortunate to be able to stay home with them usually and be the one they come to with their boo-boos, stories from school and even their potty language which seems to be a big source of entertainment these days.
Childcare, always a source of anxiety when being out of the house for a significant amount of time, worked out great today. I am a little nervous about tomorrow's arrangement but am hoping everything will go smoothly and everyone's needs will be met! I guess we will see...

My lovely active children

This morning, we took advantage of the beautiful November weather and I took Y to soccer league, while a babysitter took the other two to a nearby playground. Central Park in the fall is so beautiful! When we met up with them an hour and a half later, A and M were still having a blast and Y wanted to play too, so we decided to stay for another 20-30 minutes.
As I was watching them run and jump and laugh, I marveled at their unending energy and enthusiasm and reminded myself that my kids are, thank G'd healthy active children and they need to get out and MOVE.
After lunch, we decided to head out to the park again, because the weather was still gorgeous and hey, why not. And as I watched them run around and kick the ball and swing and do all the crazy things they love to do, I thought again of how happy they are outdoors and how hard it is for them to be confined indoors sometimes. This explains why they sometimes trash their rooms and fight with each other and make me crazy- because they have all this energy and do not know where to put it.
I am not sure how to continue giving them that outlet, now that the cold weather is coming. Most days they come home from school too late to really head out again. But it is something to keep in mind on those days when their restlessness turns to mischief and trouble. Thank G'd they are healthy kids with a lot of energy who need activity in some form. And when they do not get it, they need lots of love and patience from their Mommy instead!
In other news, I had a lovely date night with my husband tonight. We figured it was our last "hurrah" before the baby makes its appearance in the next 2-3 weeks. Good food, good company, and good conversation- a winning combination.
And I am excited for my Rebbetzen's conference that I will be attending over the next two days. It is always nice to connect with other Rabbi's wives and I usually come home having learned some fascinating things. I will report more tomorrow.

The Rebbetzen's Convention Day 1

Today was Day 1 of a 2-day retreat for Rabbi's wives. It is held locally in NJ so I spend the day there and come home in the evening.
This is my third year attending and I always find it very refreshing and informative. Not to mention a small break from my regularly scheduled programming i.e  my day to day routine. I don't usually post much about my life as a Rebbetzen. Mostly because I don't want to get myself or my husband in trouble :)
In reality, though, the rabbinate is a big part of our family's life and just having the opportunity to shmooze with others in similar situations is really wonderful.
At these conventions, I always marvel how different we all are as Rebbetzens: we look different, we dress differently, some of us are stay-at home moms, some of us work part time, some of us work full time. But we all manage to support our husbands and do our jobs, however we have defined them. I like to remind myself of that, that there is no one model of what the "Ideal Rebbetzen" does, says or represents. We all need to find our own niche and what we are comfortable with.
One speaker mentioned an interesting thought about dealing with other people's anger at you. Apparently Rabbi Nachman once told his followers, who were distressed about his vociferous opponents: "These people are not upset at me. They are angry at who they think I am, and that person is truly awful." It is a pretty deep thought. When a person is angry with us, they often see us in a way that is not really accurate. They do not hate you. They hate the person they think you are, but you know that you are not the spiteful, selfish monster they have conjured in their mind. And that makes their misdirected emotions easier to bear. Not that Rabbis or Rebbetzens ever have to deal with angry people or anything like that. Enough said :)