Elana Mizrahi

he knocking persisted. I took the baby out of his bath, wrapping him in a towel, and made my way to the front door. “Who is it?” I looked in the peephole and saw an eleven-year-old from the neighborhood . . .

Right outside my window are three tall, majestic trees. As I watch their leaves blow in the wind, I feel so grateful for their presence. Looking at these trees takes me to a different place, a different state of mind. My intense city life, which never ...

She insulted him, rebuked him and yelled at him. He didn’t flinch, or even bat an eyelid...

Sometimes I forget how old he is. I know I put more weight on his shoulders than the other ones. He definitely has more responsibilities, and I expect more from him...

Let me ask you: when a person puts you on the spot, what is your instinct to do? Defend yourself, of course, whether you did it or not. Can we expect our children to behave differently?

Sadly, we are influenced by a society that eats not when it’s hungry, but when it’s bored. We are distracted by access, and it’s disheartening, because we are so much more than that...

We make the same mistakes over and over. Do we realize that by doing so, the person we are harming most is ourselves?

Do we take enough time to look into our child’s eyes, to touch their hand, to really talk? “In one minute, when I finish this phone call.” “Let me just clean up and I’ll be right with you.” The problem is that “one minute” is never just one minute, and ...

Are my children so wrong to ask? Maybe it’s me who is wrong by becoming angry that they ask so much? Am I teaching my child that’s it’s not okay to want, that’s it’s not acceptable to ask? Is that the message that I want to give to them?

I believe. I have to believe. If I don’t believe, I am left with nothing. I believe, because how can I not?