Friday, October 06, 2006

Is It Just Me?

I know my thought patterns are sometimes offbeat, and I see the world through an interesting, colored lense...but tell me -- Is it just me?....or as you unpack your sukkah decorations and put them up, do you think that these decorations are like X-mas decorations?

I mean, I've lived in this house for three years, and my previous house for nine years. My oldest child is eleven and a few months; my youngest is 6 1/2 years old. I don't have any sukkah "family heirlooms" to speak of, but when I see the pieces of artwork we've laminated, pieces that have withstood the rains and winds of fall, as they sat proudly on the sukkah walls, I equate them with X-mas decorations...that get unpacked year in, year out, and then packed up again year in , year out. Some of these tree and room decorations, along with family stories, get passed on to younger generations.

I dated my children's artwork that we use for our decorations. So it's a pleasure for me to sit and view work done by my 6 1/2-year-old who was 2 1/2 when he drew or colored in a picture.

They continue to bring home more developed, sophisticated works of art to use as sukkah decorations, but my eyes skim the familiar, sometimes faded, pieces on the walls, and my heart is warmed...

Wishing you all a chag sameach, a happy holiday. Remember your cue: "Sniff (the etrog) & Shake (the lulav)!

4 comments:

cruisin-mom said...

I still hang Hanukah decorations my kids made in pre-school...warms my heart too.

kasamba said...

We have the 'welcome to our sukkah' signs that each kid made in preschool with their adorable photos on them- you are right, they are precious!

Anonymous said...

now I have the "hokey pokey" song in my head. ("Shake your Lulav up, shake you lulav down".... Actually, I don't remember the order of the shaking...)

... Is the Window to Our Soul said...

I can totally relate with your descripion of yourself and of your though patterns. : )

But actually around here, it's more like Halloween, with all the Sukkah-hopping. Now my 4 year old son thinks that the only thing a Sukkah is good for is to find and eat candy.