I send my kids to sleep-away camp to give them a competitive advantage in life

By Laura Clydesdale for The Washington Post

“Do you even like your children?” the woman I had just met asked me.

The audacity of the question took my breath away. I had been chatting with her, explaining that my kids go to sleep-away camp for two months every year.

I quickly realized two things at once: She was obnoxious, and she actually didn’t care if I missed my kids during the summer. She was talking about something else.

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All the Respect

Papa Plony is obsessed with beating the Baloney family in the annual relay race. But when Yasmin flakes out on practice, and a new team member shows up with an unexpected physical difference - he panics. SHABOOM! Sparks Gabi and Rafel come to the rescue with incredible upsie-downie magic, including an upside-down rainbow ramp, a giant stuffie and a lesson in showing kavod, or respect. Tune in and find out who wins the race. Kol hakavod!

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Sending My Daughter to Jewish Preschool Reconnected Me with My Roots

Rebecca Givens Rolland for Kveller

My daughter Sophie will be 3 this November. My husband Philippe and I have decided to let her start half-day preschool (she’s begged). Still, we’re late starting to look at options. I can’t settle on anything, and as a doctoral student in education, I fear my knowledge of the research—my vise-grip on “how things should be”— has gotten in the way.

Ironically, in the world of parenting and education, it seems as though you can really know too much, or at least can be too critical. Then, I see an ad for a Jewish preschool not far from our home.

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What to Do When Your Daughter Says, “Mama, I Can’t Stand You”

Sarah Tuttle-Singer for Kveller

And this is how it was this afternoon—my daughter and I pink and tired, our edges sharp, match-match, but misaligned.

And it’s hot today—the sun heavy and unyielding, like our moods, my daughter and I, stuck on repeat, a broken record, while my son watched from his perch in the kitchen, cartoon eyes wide.

And then, she blew the hair out of her face, and scowled, “Mama, I can’t stand you.”

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My Husband Worked from Home for a Day & This Is What Happened

Maurie Backman for Kveller

My husband rarely works from home, and for good reason—because he manages both people and equipment, he’s usually needed at the office. But when I had a doctor’s appointment last week and no one else available to babysit, I decided to ask my husband to work from home rather than drag my 3.5-year-old and twin infants out with me. The plan was to have him do his job out of our home office all day, but take a 90-minute break when I’d be out of the house. Though it ultimately worked just fine, it was an eye-opening experience for both of us.

My poor, unsuspecting husband learned—basically on the fly—that he’d need to follow certain ground rules to coexist peacefully with me and the kids and still get any work done. Namely:

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