Not Quite One Week Later

Baruch Hashem, things have been quiet here in Central Israel since the cease-fire went into effect last Thursday. This means we're back to normal again: the boychicks are in school (and not at home) during the day and are sleeping in their bedroom (and not in the safe room) at night. 

However, they are still cognizant of where the nearest bomb shelter is at any time, and, honestly, so am I. We know we can stop checking for shelter, though, because the government is no longer requiring public bomb shelters to be kept open. We know the public bomb shelters aren't open anymore, because we couldn't help checking as we passed.

***

And because I love language: a cease-fire in Hebrew is a hafsakat aish. My kids were not the only children who heard there was a hafsakat aish, compared that unknown phrase to the known phrases hafsakat chashmal and hafsakat mayim (power outage and water outage), and reasonably requested additional details regarding this new utility suspension. 

Famous Last Words

For those of you keeping score at home, I counted to two thousand for FF last night. (Real 2,000, too, not 100 which is known by the alias of 2,000.) He insisted and insisted, so I said, "Fine. I will count to 2,000: one-thousand, two-thousand." And he was satisfied, and did not feel cheated.

Yes, that!

Oh, and here's another cleverness buried in my drafts. 

FF, who is wearing socks, places his feet in my lap. I have told him at least fourteen gazillion times not to touch people with his feet. BSM, who is watching, finally understands what I have meant in the past when I accused him [BSM] of a certain type of behavior.

Me: FF, don't put your feet on me.
FF: I'm not, it's just my socks.
BSM: Is he being willfully obtuse?
Me: Yes. That is a perfect example of being willfully obtuse. Don't do that. Also, FF, please don't put your socks on me, either.

FF removes his socks from his feet. I assume that he is about to put his socks on me while said socks do not contain said feet, but FF either gets distracted or thinks better of it. 

Clevernesses

One of the last things I do with the kids before bed is count for them. It used to be reasonable: when BSM was tiny, I wanted him to be able to recognized numbers (so I could set time limits using an analog clock, and he could watch the minute hand moving and know how much time he had left). To teach him to recognize numbers and get him comfortable with clocks, before bed each night, I would point to each number on his clock and name it. 

But the world has moved on, and now I just count for the boys because it's faster to count than to fight. However, I do have my limits: I will not count past 100. BSM eventually realized that he can request a number larger than 100 if he agrees that I count by 2's/5's/100's etc. (which he understands and does not feel cheated by). FF is still trying to figure out how this game works, but for him I do not count past 100. Not by 2's, not by 7's, not by 16's. (Because he does not understand this trick, and does feel cheated by it.) Just. No. 

But FF did finally find one workaround. "What number do you want me to count until tonight?"
"Two thousand!"
"No. I do not count past 100."
"Right, so two thousand. Ay Kay Ay one hundred."

Firstly, as we all know, that's one funny kid. Secondly, where did he learn the use and meaning of "a.k.a."?

***

I was setting up BSM for a school Zoom meeting the other day, so I started to close all of the other tabs open on his browser. He asked me to please leave one of them open, and I explained that I couldn't, because that tab was for a site which is inclined to randomly start playing audio. "No, but I already muted it!" BSM insisted. I started to explain what "randomly starting" means, when BSM showed me that it was all good:

So I learned something.

Everything I had Hoped and Dreamed

 We've had 16 rockets in Rehovot since Tuesday night. Conveniently, some of those have been within 10 minutes of each other, so we've had to go to the shelter fewer than 16 times. 

Maybe I'll write about it later, but let's just say I'm tired. The two big boys have been sleeping in the shelter since Wednesday night, so at least they aren't waking up in the middle of the night. But there's not room in there for all 5 of us to lay down, so Husbinator and I are still sleeping in our room and rushing down with the baby when the sirens wake us up. Husbinator says it's like having a newborn, but less cute.

ANYWAY, due to the whole rocket thing, the kids have been off of school since Tuesday. This means, among other things, that they did not have a chance to make the traditional pre-Shavuot School-Style Cheesecake. 

 I have a terrific no-bake chocolate cheesecake recipe that I love, but BSM rightly wants the type of cheesecake that he's had every year since he was 2 years old. All I know about this recipe is that (1) it must be easy enough for preschool kids to make, (2) it's no-bake, and (3) BSM says it has leben (like plain yogurt) and sugar.

So I Googled and Googled, but everything I found required either baking or whipping (or both). I asked the Israeli mothers on the group chat for FF's gan, and someone sent me something close, but it just called for so many ingredients. And a whisk.

Knowing there must be something easier, I posted on the local Anglo women's chat, and I struck gold! In addition to another recipe that calls for whipping so e cream I got two similar recipes from two different women: just mix together some gvina levana, some vanilla pudding mix, and, depending on the recipe, either some milk or some unwhipped whipping cream. Then, put it on top of either whole or crushed tea biscuits, and top with crushed tea biscuits. Done. 

This morning, I went out to the makolet with the boys, and we bought gvina levana. We came home, and the boys made each made a cheesecake with minimal help. YC tasted the filling and approves. Success!

***

The Recipe

2-3 T milk

30-40 g vanilla pudding mix

250g gvinah levanah

6-8 tea biscuits, depending how many crumb layers the kid wants, and how many crumbs he spills on the floor.

Pour milk in bowl.

Add pudding mix and stir until dissolved.

Dump in gvina levana and mix.

Layer with crumbs (or whole biscuits) as desired.