HOME & FAMILY

Painting the roses red -- with Harold's purple crayon...

Advice to newlyweds on candid microphone

Chance Encounter
by Sara Newman

Most people will not have heard of this disorder of childhood, yet it affects about 1% of the childhood population, more commonly girls than boys. It used to be called `elective mutism' but doctors changed it to `selective' because the former term implies a sort of willful conscious decision on the part of the child, which is not the case at all. Whatever its name, it is a most distressing behavioral problem when a parent or teacher comes into contact with it.

COMMUNICATION
Selective Mutism
by A. Ross, M.Ed.

With the long summer holidays ahead of us, most parents will be thinking of how they are going to occupy their children. Some mothers positively look forward to the holidays. To the lack of regime, the relaxed atmosphere and no buses, car pools or deadlines to meet in the mornings. This has nothing whatever to do with the size of the family. It depends on the temperament of the children and of the mother/father. Other parents dread the onset of the holidays with all the children home all day with nothing to do and six weeks or more to do it in.

Waste Not, Want Not
by Rosally Saltsman

My kitchen has been giving me food for thought recently. To cut costs, battle the bulge, keep the commandment of bal tashchis and locate some counter space in the kitchen, I've decided to trim the fat off my food budget.

CREATIVITY CORNER
A Grain of Sand and a Shovel
by Devorah Piha

How many of us look back to summer days with warm memories of sand castles on the beach? With happy hands we paddled the walls and built up the bridges. We filled cups with sand and poured them upside-down and filled them again and again. Oh, the pure joy of measuring and pouring and forming cones that kept their shape forever, until a wave of salt water and seaweed swerved into them and returned the sand to its innocuous place under the sun on the beach...

BOOK REVIEW
Tightrope
by Leah Fried
Reviewed by Yonina Hall

The family novel is back!

Some themes in Jewish fiction come up again and again. One year, for example, nearly every new novel involved computer hacking. Another year, every other novel included Middle East intrigue.

Writers' Guidelines
by Gita Gordon

During this past year, I have been trying to collect together short stories about Jews who grew up in the small `dorp' communities of South Africa. The reason for this lies in my childhood.

10 Noshes less than 175 Calories
by Dr. Reuven Bruner, Ph.D.

1. One almond, one date: Stuff the former into the latter for satisfying sweetness and nutty crunch.

2. Half of a whole grain bagel spread with jam or low-fat cream cheese.

3. Whole wheat pretzels (1½ oz): A bona fide snack food that is not junk food.

Your Medical Questions Answered!
by Joseph B. Leibman, MD

I previously mentioned the issue of wild animals and, while we have discussed this in the past, emphasis is important. Dogs can be wonderful companions, but in Israel, many abandoned dogs have become wild and circulate in packs. They often enter cities and children must not play with them or feed them. Recall that dogs instinctively chase a scared running child. Ferrets are in the weasel family and are popular as pets in the West, but are unpredictable and can often maul a young child. They are also cute -- beware.

Poet's Corner

Faith
by Tzipora Zien

Where is faith? Where is the sign
Which points the way to strength Divine?

With confidence I traveled West
But found it not among the best.

Determination sent me back
But in the East I lost its track.

The Northern Hemisphere did woo
I found it lacking. Didn't you?

And when my sail did southward pitch
I found my dinghy in a ditch!

I asked my friends for sound advice,
They said Faith was not worth the price.

And so, my soul found no relief
In searching for what's called belief.

One fateful night a storm did rise
And Thunder called from drenching skies.

Its echo brought me back to earth,
My steady searching proved its worth.

True faith lives in the Jewish soul.
You'll find Him there. Make this your goal!