Passover

Passover is my favorite Jewish holiday, but it is definitely full of adult symbolism and concepts - slavery, bondage, deliverance, redemption, freedom. So for the most part around here we have focused on learning and celebrating the Spring Equinox, including working in our garden, projects relating to sun, rain, flowers, eggs and babies, and enjoying longer, warmer days.

For myself at Passover, I decided a couple of years ago that I would observe it each year by reading a book about slavery in modern times, something that would remind me that this issue is ancient, but unfortunately, not dead. This year I read Nic Kristoff and Sheryl WuDunn's book Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide. It is a really well-researched, thoughtful and powerful book - definitely recommended.

But for Sylvie, her understanding of Passover for now is essentially that it's a special holiday, with a special dinner and special food, and since there is nothing leavened at Passover dinner, we get to make Grandma's very favorite flourless chocolate cake. Since Grandma works so hard cooking dinner for the Passover Seder, Sylvie made her some flowers to thank her.

One of the most fun traditions of Passover is when the children look for a hidden piece of matzot (the Afikomen). Sylvie and Matthew worked together to find it and each got a dollar bill!
This was Sylvie's very first dollar bill and she immediately ran and hid it in Mr. Potato Head's rear end.