I’ve been really excited about getting my older son, Michael, to experience other holiday traditions, besides Christmas this season. First on the list was Hanukkah. I had read great things about Bananukah!, where popular musician Danna Banana tells the story of the Festival of Lights with props, songs, games and kid participation. This would be a perfect way to introduce Michael to Hanukkah – or so I thought.
My whole family went to the CMOM on Saturday to see the performance. Unfortunately, I was the only one who enjoyed it (well Sean, my baby, seemed to enjoy it too – if that counts). Both Michael and my husband had these glazed, “when will this be over?” looks on their faces during the performance. I think that part of the lack of interest was that some of the songs were in Hebrew and we didn’t know the English ones (perhaps if they would have had a songbook, it would have been more inclusive?). My husband did know the dreidel song though – perhaps because he grew up in NYC. In any event, at the end of the performance, my husband was like, “Where’s the latkes?” and Michael said, “You said that there would be food.” (I did not. CMOM where it was held, doesn’t even allow food.) Oh well, I tried. Next year, I’ll take them to a Hanukkah event with latkes!
Later that day, we tried to get a good picture of the kids to go on our holiday cards. (I don’t really like “perfect” professional photos for my holiday cards – I want family and friends to see the kids in a somewhat natural pose.) What did I learn? 1. I could never be a children’s photographer and 2. I could never be a baby wrangler (a job related to helping kids on film). It was hilarious! First, the batteries in the camera kept acting up, so my husband and I were having this huge conversation about alkaline and non-alkaline batteries – which ones would make the crazy camera work. Finally, we had the camera working correctly. Then, the kids would not both be still at the same time. My baby Sean, who is nine months, kept crawling towards us as we tried to take the picture. When Sean sat still, Michael would make these crazy Joker-esque smiles when we said, “Smile”. (By the end, we learned that saying “Cheese” cured that problem.) Finally, we said, “This is the last picture. It is what it is.” So, below you’ll see the shot that our family and friends will get on their Snapfish holiday cards. (Oh well, next year perhaps we will do the professional shoot thingy!)
Happy Holidays!