i just read a great post on offbeat mama about raising children in a two religion household.
there are several differences between this post and our situation.
1. i am a reform, not a conservative, jew.
2. my husband does not feel strongly about infant baptism.
3. we have not made a decision regarding sunday school vs hebrew school. though i do agree with the author of the post when she says that a jewish education is more difficult to come by without active pursuit. travis thinks it is important for sylvie to pursue both avenues of religious education. for us, it’s not an either/or situation.
on the other hand, there are a few similarities.
1. we are not going to have a naming ceremony for sylvie. i agree with the author that it’s a fairly recent invention that carries little meaning. does it sting a little that our daughter will not be given a hebrew name? absolutely. i told travis early on that the only fair thing to do was to either perform both ceremonies or neither. i told him he could choose. he chose neither. so no baptism and no naming.
2. i know EXACTLY what the author is talking about when she says she feels almost “outnumbered” by the christian members of their family. travis’ family is huge, much larger than mine, and it is sometimes difficult to be the only philadelphia jew in a sea of southern baptists. will he feel the same way at my cousin’s jewish wedding this december? i’m sure he will to some amount.
3. our religious differences have NEVER been a point of contention for us. we talk about it often and i ask him a ton of questions just to better understand. everything we have agreed to in terms of sylvie’s religious education came to be after calm, thoughtful discussion and compromise. there are extended family members on both sides who have made each of us uncomfortable in our religious choices and respective upbringings. when it comes to my husband, however, i have never been made to feel bad for my beliefs. i think he would say the same about me. we both believe in treating people well and with respect. period.
so that’s that.
tonight travis and i went on a date to the comedy attic to catch the first night of the annual bloomington comedy festival. we saw 6 comedians each perform a 5 minute set. they were bracketed as 1 vs 2, 3 vs 4, and 5 vs 6. you pick your favorite from each bracket. at the end of the evening the ballots are collected, votes are tallied and 3 comedians move on to the next round. some of the performers were genuinely funny. some (one guy in particular) were downright painful to watch. all-in-all it was a fun night. we’re trying to do as many of these spur of the moment adult activities as we can before sylvie arrives. we’re enjoying dinner dates, cookouts and midnight movies while we still have the freedom to do so.
summer is getting into full swing around here! most of the university students are gone, the evenings are warmer, and i caught my first lightning bug of the season tonight. heck, it was still light out when we left the comedy club at 9:30! i love summer. it makes this town almost bearable. i want to savor every moment and every sunny day, as i feel like this is truly my last summer of youth. at the same time, i’m hoping it flies by. the end of this summer will bring with it our biggest adventure yet. it’s a funny feeling just sitting around, waiting for your life to change forever.
hurry up!
s l o w d o w n !
none of us, least of all this little monster, have any idea what’s about to hit us.
everything will turn out alright. 