If I could have only one dressing in my fridge, it would be this one. It’s not just convenient to have around, it’s actually like having one-third of a meal prepped and ready at any given time.
We’re all so busy — drowning even — that sometimes the thought of adding even one more thing is just too much. But the idea is to acknowledge just that. A text saying, “I’d love to be able to help, and I wish I could” might be all it takes, and that in itself is a form of giving.
Shortly after I was the new mother receiving kimpeturin
meals, I read the fantastic Double Take in Mishpacha about the aunts who couldn’t manage to pull off a detail-oriented sheva brachos for their deserving niece. I respect people who are protective enough of their inner world (their kids, their home, their sanity) that they’re able to say no with pride. But on the other hand, sometimes there’s room to extend yourself a little bit more as a gesture of thoughtfulness and appreciation.
And if that’s not an option, acknowledge that you’d love to be in a place where you’d be able to pull off something that requires so much effort, but for whatever reason, this time you just can’t.
Sometimes acknowledging something is the most important part. It’s the part that requires pause and mindfulness. I find Tishah B’Av to be a tricky day for very little kids. I’m obviously not looking to impose an adult level of mourning on them, but I also feel that they can connect to the day on their own level through our acknowledgement that it’s Tishah B’Av several times throughout the day.
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