We recently made aliyah to the wonderful city of Be’er Sheva. Seriously, the people here are so sweet. It’s fantastic. More recently, we’ve been getting some deliveries from our not-so-sweet neighbors in nearby Gaza; terrorists are throwing deadly rockets at us. Here are some of the small bits of our life that have changed:

1. Time

Some places only get fifteen seconds. We're lucky to get a full 60. That means that wherever we go, and whatever we do, we need to be within 60 seconds of safety. If you have small children like we do, you need to count that in. A simple task like getting the baby dressed turns into a complex calculation: "If I bring him to his room to dress him, and a siren goes off, will I have enough time to grab him and my toddler, and carry them to shelter?"

2. Noises

Noises used to be facts of life. But now they're terrifying. Any high-pitched sound could be the start of a siren. Sudden loud sounds can be missed sirens. The sound of a bus passing by is suddenly alarming enough to stop your heart for a moment. You could try to ignore the sounds, but the reality is that you need to be on your toes, because when that siren does go off, you have 60 seconds to run—or else. Today, my sweet little girl, who’s not yet two, jumped up at the sound of a police siren, and told me to run.

3. Showers

Relaxing showers are a thing of the past. Ask my neighbor who just had to run to shelter in nothing but a towel and soapy hair. The shorter the shower, the less likely the scenario. If you don’t have someone else at home, you might want to skip the shower altogether. The noise from the water might drown out the sound of the siren—you’ll need someone to bang on the door for you.

4. Parenting

You know how how all the parenting experts stress the importance of a good sleep schedule? Yeah, well, good luck with that one. We had to wake up our kids twice last night, for extended amounts of time. Nap time was also ruined. Parents know that kids don’t sleep in. Instead, they get super cranky. Oh, boy.

5. Outdoors

It’s a beautiful day out. But we’re staying in. No one wants to be caught outside with kids during an air raid. Even if you do make it to shelter on time, the trauma to your kid is just not worth it. Driving to indoor safe places is also a risk. When the siren goes off, you need to get out of your car and hide underneath it. Often, drivers just panic and crash instead.

6. Cooking

No big deal. Just make sure that whatever you’re cooking can be abandoned at any given moment, without the risk of burning the house down.

7. Sleeping

There are rules to this one. If you share a shelter with your neighbors, then only sleep in something that you’re okay with all of them seeing you in. Don’t sleep deeply; you need to hear the sirens. Make sure your children are nearby, and that each adult is assigned one to grab and run. Or, if you’re lucky enough to have a sweaty bomb shelter in your house, just pile the family in and have sweet, siren-filled dreams.

Honestly, all this has only made us feel terrible for the people in cities like Ashkelon and Sderot. They’ve been getting rockets non-stop, and only have 15 seconds to run for safety. May our G‑d above continue to protect them and all of Israel!