CBI, not CBD
Welcome to Camp Babka International. The local toy store has been very happy to have me running camp here. When you don’t get to spoil your grandchildren on the regular, you totally overcompensate when you are with them. Magna-Tiles, Melissa and Doug animal magnets, the Kindervelt school bus (which, surprisingly came with a driver and two boys and two girls — very progressive for a yeshiva!), dolls, dolls, and more dolls. You name it and I bought some version of it. And in order to have Husband #1 not have a nervous breakdown about the amount I have spent on these precious, delicious little girls, I make sure they say, “Thank you, Papa!”
Only one of them talks, but the other one is so freakin’ adorable, all she has to do is look at Papa and he melts. Baruch Hashem.
I am not sure how happy DIL #2 is with me for all the added accoutrements, but Danish and her sister have been having a ball. And I have been having even more fun watching them have a ball. And, let’s be honest, I love Magna-Tiles. They were not around when my boys were growing up, and I am obsessed with them. But that is a whole other column.
CBI (Camp Babka International) — not to be confused with CBD, though CBD may help when you are running CBI — is very different from the American version. The most important difference is the no-car situation. My Son #2 and his amazing wife, DIL #2, are real Israeli parents. Those strollers are getting on a packed bus if it’s the last thing they do, and Babka and Papa follow behind them with such pride.
Why would you want to give up a life of driving yourself from place to place? I give them and all their peers a lot of credit and wish them all good health and upper body strength. I honestly don’t know how they all do it. And most of these women do it very pregnant and with six or seven other kids following along like adorable ducklings in matching outfits.
As for CBI activities, Danish is 2 1/2, so she is the perfect candidate for stickers and crayon activities. There are few things more adorable than watching this child delicately lift up the stickers and gently place them in her sticker book. My heart just melts. “This look good, Babka, ya?”
Ya, it looks perfect, my precious little Danish. And her sister is equally delicious, baruch Hashem. I am beyond grateful. I don’t want to sound corny, but I really and truly am. And this week, God willing, Son #3 and DIL #3 and Matzo Ball are coming back to Israel after an almost six-month hiatus. (Don’t ask.)
I have been staying in their apartment and have been getting everything ready for Matzo Ball’s arrival. We have a crib, a playmate, an exersaucer, diapers, wipes, baby shampoo, baby detergent — you know how much I want my daughters-in-law to like me, so if it takes four trips to the baby store that is up a very steep hill in Geula, I will walk up that hill in the 98 degree weather to make sure my little Matzo Ball has everything he needs. And it is my absolute pleasure to do so.
And if my kids want Life cereal, I will spend 70 shekels (almost $20) on two boxes because it makes them happy and I love them very much, and my new line of this trip is, “You can’t take it with you, so you might as well spend it in Israel.” Feel free to quote me on that.
Today’s adventure was to Teddy Park, where they have sprinklers and other water-related activities for the very young set. Danish and her sister had so much fun splashing in the non-chlorinated water — but it is protected by Hashem, so you cannot really ask for more than that. Even when the kid standing next to your kid takes his very full diaper off.
Yes, that happened. But it is Israel! It’s all good! We then went for pizza in the Rova and then we went to the Kotel and then we took a Gett home. It was a van. It wasn’t supposed to be a van, but Hashem is awesome, and it got all six of us home in one piece, and we could not have been more grateful.
I am so happy and so tired and cannot wait to see what tomorrow brings. Husband #1 is going home tomorrow night, and I am not due to come home until the 20th, so please take care of him.
Banji Ganchrow of Teaneck is filled with lots of love, crunchy Cheetos, and apple flavored Schwepps. It is really refreshing!!!
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