Today was the second day of Rosh Hashanah for 5775.
This year, in Baltimore, the city’s public schools were open for the first day of the holiday, meaning that the Monster was in class. The wife arranged for R to have a playdate with a friend from nursery school, and so… we actually got a day to sit in our actual seats in the congregation for a change. (Well, as much as ‘we’ could, given that my wife’s vocal ensemble was performing with the cantor.)
However, today was a professional development day in Baltimore City’s schools, and we ended up with both children coming with us to synagogue.
And, again, the wife’s vocal ensemble was performing, so I had both kids to myself (with some aid from the grandparents).
Fortunately, our synagogue has a sound-proofed quiet room, so I did get to participate in a bit of the services from behind the glass. On the other hand, the children really have minimal patience for the length of the service… and mercifully, we have a Tot Chag service that I could take them to. I’ve actually never done the Tot Shabbat services without the wife, with both kids, so this was guaranteed already to be an experience.
For the most part, the children were fairly good. The Tot Chag is a little bit beyond either of their understandings of the holiday or their patience really to wait for things to happen, but that’s partially a factor of age for one, and partially a factor of just attention span and communication ability on the part of the other. There was dancing and singing and a bit of a story time (that part, the kids weren’t so keen on), but they manage to survive through to snacks, and that was what mattered most to either of them.
And so, we survived services at least this time. We even made it through the morning without an accident, and he made it to the toilet when we got home to do a #2… which would have been great, if he’d not been feeling unwell and then had two accidents in short order afterwards. (Well, into every life, a little poop must fall…)
On Yom Kippur, we’ll only have R with us in the morning, as the Arc has a parents’ day out for that morning – I’ll run the Monster to the program, join the wife for a few hours, and then take R with me to go retrieve the Monster. I’ve long since reconciled myself to being in the quiet room for Kol Nidre most years, so that’s alright on the night before. But the holy days are in full swing, and that’s a good thing.
So if you’ll excuse me, it’s time to get the kids ready to head over to their grandparents’ for dinner…