I mean, usually I do. I don't celebrate it myself since converting to Judaism more than a decade ago, but my kids and parents and such do, and I'm usually a bit stumped for ideas. More to the point, when my family members ask me what I want for Christmas (yeah . . . they kind of didn't really get the memo, so I still get Christmas gifts from them. ( Read more... )

This year, I'll be doing something I've done once before, which is giving a scary book to someone for Halloween. Of course, when I did it, it wasn't exactly a scary book, since I've given copies of Big Pumpkin by Erica Silverman to Angela's younger son and to the Horace Mann Elementary School library. (Long-time readers know how much I LOOOOOOOVE ( Read more... )

Allow me to recommend the following books, all of which make outstanding gifts:


( Read more... )

It's almost Christmas, and folks are probably still wondering what to get for some of the people in their lives, including some of the wee people. Today, I'm talking about babies and toddlers. Some of you have 'em, and more of you have to shop for 'em. But what are some of this year's best baby gifts? Well, I can't speak to toys and creepers and ( Read more... )

The icon I've chosen describes the current situation at my house. And it seems profoundly quiet compared to last night, when hubby gave the girlies the gift he chose for them for Chanukah. (My kids celebrate both Chanukah and Christmas.)

Wanna know what you can get for your tween and teen girls (and probably for amanda_marrone and jenlyn_b and jo-no-anne and maybe even thatgirlygirl) that ( Read more... )