Grandma's Injury

Grandma Phyllis had surgery on her arm for what turned out to be caused by staph infection. At one point she mentioned (and Marley apparently heard) that she had fallen off her bicylcle.

We called Grandma post surgery.

Marley: How are you feeling Grandma? You fell off your bicycle?
Gma: No, sweetie. I don't think it was from that.
Marley: Oh. You fell off your scooter?

Hayden, the Queen of Negotiation

Because of my lack of self control, I buy lots of presents for the kids.  In a vain effort to keep from spoiling them, I try and space the presents out over a longer time so I store them in a closet in our room.  Hayden knows full well about this closet and calls it, accurately, The Present Closet.

Today, Hayden says to me "Can I look in The Present Closet?  I only want to look, not get anything."

Well, I've fallen for that one before, so I told her no.

So Hayden made a counter-offer:  "Can I look with only one eye?"

What Obama Jewish problem?

Beth and Hayden were talking at bedtime about Hayden coming into the voting booth and helping Beth vote.

"I'm going to pick Barack Obama!"  Hayden proudly said.

Marley responded, "I'm going to pick Rosh Hashanah!"

The next day Marley answered the same question with "I'm going to pick Chewbacca."  As they say, let the wookiee win.

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It's tough for a girl to grow up in this age of Queen Bees and Wannabes, so I sometimes worry about Hayden having enough self-esteem. Then there are times when I realize I don't need to worry. For example, Hayden asked me the other day, "Daddy, am I ten feet tall?"


We were spending Yom Kippur in New Jersey and the girls were running around in the temple's library. Hayden asked me to read her a book and I picked up a picture book that I thought she might enjoy called "Joseph And His Brothers."

Marley heard me ask Hayden about the book and she kept repeating what we thought was "I want to read Joseph Brothers! I want to read Joseph Brothers! I want to read Joseph Brothers!"

Only when we saw her turning the pages with frustration did we realize that she thought it was a book about the Jonas Brothers.

P.S. I don't think they're Jewish.


We were at the kids' service at the temple and Marley got a good look at the torah with its silver plate and silver handle-covers. She pointed at it and announced: "It's R2-D2!"

Marley Tov

All sixteen of us on the Reiner side were having lunch on Rosh Hashanah. Marley told my dad that she had a shirt with Mr. Met on it. My dad told her that he and grandma saw Mr. Met on the street one time. Without even looking up from her lunch, Marley quickly answered "Oh wow, that's so cool."


Beth was putting Marley to bed, but Marley didn't feel she was ready yet. When Beth walked out and closed the door, Marley yelled out "Come back, Mommy! Come back, Mommy! Come back, Mommy!"

When she realized that wasn't working, Marley yelled out "I have a present for you, Mommy." That didn't work either.