Rolling windows and tile floors

By Dr. Yasmine Kalkstein
Matan is having trouble with the apartment concept.  He wants to know why people are in our house and entering our house.  It's kind of funny.  He has started this week asking about the big house (that's our Monroe house) too.  

Today, it really confused Matan because I picked him up in a little car.  So, we have rented this car...and it turns out that someone else needed it and they needed to trade (really I think they gave us a bigger one than we were due).  So, now it's really small...the guy was saying how I could drop it at the airport and I'm like...uh, our carry on won't even fit in it.

Anyway, here's what I love about the car though now...it has automatic keys.  In other words, I don't have to take the kids out, then tell them to hold still, go around and lock the door.  It's amazing.  You PRESS A BUTTON ON YOUR KEYCHAIN.  Oh, seriously.  It's amazing.  A button on the keychain, from the point of view of a parent, is worth way more than horsepower or whatever else!!

The other interesting thing about the car is that the back has manual windows.  So we're driving home tonight and Sivan's a little carsick, so I tell her you can roll down the windows...I say there's something you move, see if you can figure it out.

She says, "It's so cool! You turn this knob around and it makes the window go down!!!"

Adam and I couldn't stop laughing.  We had to explain that we thought the button thing 20 years ago was really cool.

Okay, so now I will give my thoughts on tile floors.

Most Israelis assume we are considering aliyah and think maybe we are here for a test run.  But really, I think I'm here for a test run of tile floors.  I hate my carpeting in my dining room.  In Israel, every apartment has tile floors.  This means that when a kid spills, it's super easy to clean up.  Or pees on the floor--super easy to clean.  So, immediately I thought, this is what I need.

But here's the thing about tile floors.  They are always dirty.

This makes me realize, however, that my carpet is probably always dirty and disgusting, but I don't really know it.  So in Israel, you SEE the dirt and know it.  

This then made me think of allegory...because I think it sort of describes the Israeli personality.  Let's be honest--in America, we get annoyed, mad, fed up and inpatient.  We just hide it (well, at least maybe you do).  It's like carpeting.  It's there--just hidden.  Israelis are like tile floors.  What you see is what you get.

So, what do I think?  I don't know.  Tile floors are even more confusing than aliyah...

So, I move on to kiftzuba.  Kiftzuba is a little amusement area that's part of a kibbutz.  The kids had a great time when we went for almost 3 hours this afternoon/evening.  We paddle bumped and bumper cared (isn't my English getting great?), jumped, and played.  It was really nice.






 Below Sivan got her kindergarten backpack!!


Comments

The Simons said…
love the analogy! Its so true!!! So glad you are having such a great time!!
7/31/2013
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