Recs

Straight from the Heart: A Jewish Perspective on Mothering Through Nursing by Tehilla Abramov is really quite fascinating. The author is Orthodox, so provides all the halacha (laws) on nursing. I loved all the information that's given from the Jewish sources: I don't have any of the quotes on me, but apparently the Talmud says that women are allowed to nurse until the child is 4 years old, 5 if sickly. The only thing I didn't like was that it's very pro-stay at home moms (what a shock, in that community). I felt a bit excluded as a hippie mom who loves parent-child bonding but who also likes to get my needs met outside of my mothering role.

Xander's been sleeping a lot this week, so I've also been getting to explore fun things online that I'd been curious about: e.g. I've always been fascinated by Temple Grandin, who put a face to autism and thinking in pictures versus language. TED does some amazing interviews, they just had her talk last month. Click here to watch.

I spent some time the other night entering all the genealogy data I have into an online family tree. And it got me interested more in the details of Mormonism, especially because a close friend was raised Mormon but has since left the church, and a branch of my family is actively practicing in Utah/Idaho and I don't know them well at all. There are some fascinating websites out there by ex-LDS members, like a tell-all. I'm learning so much about what LDS members believe, how they practice, how Temple rituals were influenced by the Masons, etc. It continues last year's obsession with the Amish, started off by reading this book on rumspringa. I find that the deeper I get into the rabbinical program, the more I'm intrigued by other religions that are heavily ritualized. Even as a kid I was always into compare and contrast questions at school... my mind just loves to compartmentalize, I guess.

Ah, I hear coughing... back upstairs.