4 Things I’m Determined To Do This Summer With Or Without My Kids

Maurie Backman for Kveller

If there’s one thing I love about living out in suburbia, it’s that summertime offers a host of family-friendly activities that are easily accessible from my very own driveway. And so every summer, I compile a list (usually just in my head) of things I want to do before Labor Day rolls around (because as we all know, no matter how old we are, summer just seems to fly by).

But here’s the problem: While these activities always seem like fun in theory, they tend to be less so in practice. And a big reason has to do with the kids—well, my kids. And not so much my toddler, as my twin infant daughters, who are a handful (though my toddler can be quite demanding in his own right).

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13 Weeknight Dinners You Can Prep in 30 Minutes or Less

By Shannon Sarna for Kveller

Dinner on weeknights can just be the worst, right?

Some people spend their Sundays prepping meals for the week, and while that might work on some weekends (for some people), other people want to enjoy their time away from the hectic-ness of the week.

But you can still throw together a family-friendly dinner with just a little menu planning and less than 30 minutes of prep time, even on the busiest nights. And I’m not talking about opening a box of pasta and dousing it in butter and parmesan, although sometimes that’s fine, too.

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For more great Jewish cooking ideas, check out our    page.

Sheryl Sandberg Admits She Got It Wrong with ‘Lean In’

Joanna Valente for Kveller

Facebook executive Sheryl Sandberg recently announced that she got some parts of her popular book, “Lean In,” wrong. Namely, she didn’t realize just how hard single parenting is until her husband died a year ago.

In light of Mother’s Day, Sandberg wrote a post on Facebook where she admitted that single moms get a raw deal–and much of their lives are determined by forces out of their control. Many work multiple jobs and don’t have access to paid leave. She wrote:

“I did not really get how hard it is to succeed at work when you are overwhelmed at home.

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Does God care about how you parent?

By Jeffrey Salkin for Martini Judaism

For my parents, it was Dr. Benjamin Spock.

For us, it was T. Berry Brazelton and Penelope Leach.

And for this generation, it might be Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg.

It’s not that Rabbi Ruttenberg is an expert on child-rearing. Not quite. You’re not going to be consulting her new book — Nurture The Wow: Finding Spirituality in the Frustration, Boredom, Tears, Poop, Desperation, Wonder, and Radical Amazement of Parenting — for advice on, say, dealing with colic.

(And, in fact, there are several great books on Jewish parenting — including by my colleagues, Paul Kipnes and Michelle November  — as well as the books by Wendy Mogel, which are totally informed and influenced by a Jewish read on the world).

No; here is what Danya does — and it is unique.

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