Cranky Babka
My name is Banji, and I am addicted to Netflix.
It relaxes me. It centers me. I know I have a problem, but there are so many other things I could be addicted to at this stage in life. Before I begin, yes, I know these are first-world problems. Yes, I am so thankful to Hashem for all the blessings in my life. I do not take anything in my life for granted.
That being said, my goal is to make you laugh, so there you go.
As I have written before, I am running Camp Babka International. Danish and her sister have been the main campers. Because Son #2 and DIL #2 want me to move to Israel, when I am there, they set the tone. They don’t want me to “work too hard,” they volunteered their apartment for a camp so their kids could participate and Babka didn’t have to show up until 1:45 p.m. DIL#2 would be at work, so I would play with the girls until she came home. The details aren’t important.
What is important (well, important is relative) is that I was staying at Son #3 and DIL #3’s apartment down the road, because they were in America, on sabbatical from their sabbatical. God bless kids these days. That is a whole other story. In any event, last week Matzo Ball and his parents arrived back in Israel, and Babka had rented a “room” nearby for the rest of the time she was here.
Why I am I writing in third person?
Now when I say room, I mean a room. It has a bed, a sink, a mini fridge, a little microwave, and a bathroom where you can shower and use the toilet at the same time. But it is all new and very clean, and it is a good thing I am not in my “larger” stage because, if I were, I would not fit in the bathroom at all. I was actually wondering what would happen if a very large person rented this room, but not my problem.
My problem was that when I got back to my room, after a beautiful, long, very hot day with my amazing progeny, all I wanted to do was take a shower while using the bathroom, sit on my bed, eat my dinner, and watch Netflix. I took the shower, I sat on the bed, I put my falafel and Coke beside me, and I put on my computer.
Netflix was blocked. AOL was blocked. I know, first-world problems. I frantically called Son #2 to come over, and of course he did. He was so patient with his crazy mother, who was totally losing it because all she wanted to do after a wonderful day was relax and watch Netflix. He tried to help me, google-translating the judgy robot that was now on my computer telling me that I should be saying tehillim instead of watching “The Rookie.”
He then went upstairs to the owner of the room, and the wife informed him that all these sites are blocked. (Which makes sense because I am staying in a really, really, really religious area. Did I say really religious?) But she felt terrible and would ask her husband to see what he could do.
Thank God, the next day he got a different router, and I got to watch Nathan Fillion. Yes, first-world problems.
Back to Camp Babka International. My Israelis decided to take advantage of a “free” photo shoot in Teddy Park. Israel is in the midst of a heatwave. My weather app said 104, but it could have been hotter. My Israelis are so positive, “The photo shoot isn’t until 5:30, it will be much cooler by then.”
I facetimed Husband #1 from the park to tell him that I do not want to be buried in Israel and, when the dehydration finally kills me, please fly me back home.
Fortunately, we all survived, I am sure the pictures will be beautiful, my kids gave in and let us take a Gett home instead of waiting for 46 minutes for a bus that would probably not have room for all of us anyway, and when we got back, I was given the ice cream that I was promised.
And all is right with the world.
Banji Ganchrow of Teaneck shared her ice cream with Danish and her sister. They were both so hot that if the ice cream had been a frozen side of beef, they would have been equally happy with that.
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