Purim Themes and Ideas

Purim 5775 is right around the corner, are you ready??  Purim is one of my favorite holidays because I get to utilize my creative side.  Many people like to do family costume themes with themed shalach manos.  I am all for that and have been doing it since I got married, and mostly make the costumes as well.  The year we were dating I dressed up as a nurse and my husband was a patient.  The following year we were already married and I was 6 months pregnant, my husband dressed up as a baseball player and I was a baseball (my pregnant belly).  We gave out our shalach manos in a baseball cap and put in peanuts, cracker jacks, pretzels , a can of beer, baseball cookies and a baby ruth chocolate bar.

The following year my husband and I dressed up as safari adventurers and our son was a lion. His name is Yehuda which means lion in Hebrew.  I love baby animal costumes! We put our shalach manos in an animal print bag and it had trail mix, a water bottle, gummy bears and alligators, a banana cupcake in a safari themed wrapper, and animal crackers.

 The following year my son and I dressed up as sailors and my husband was the sea captain.  Our shalach manos contained pistachio nuts in "shells", marshmallow rope, peppermint candies to look like life preservers, sea salt popcorner chips, a mini bottle of vodka and a sea themed decorated cupcake.

 This year as per my son's request we are dressing up as super heroes! I am dressing up as Captain america, my son as batman and my husband will be Clark Kent/ Superman in transition.  We are giving out powerade, lolly pop with masks and capes, batman shaped cookies, super snacks, krackel chocolate bars, ring pops and sour (utility) belts, all in a batman tote bag that I crafted.

Intro to my life

I am a stay-at-home mom to my adorable 2 1/2 year old son, Yehuda, and getting through these winter month can be challenging keeping an active toddler occupied.  The weather here in New York fluctuates between cold, really cold, and freezing, so outings are minimal.  We have one car and my husband takes it to work, so wherever I go with Yehuda is either walking or by public transit.  I am also currently getting my master's in early childhood general and special education.  I take classes in the evening and am currently doing fieldwork in a preschool as well.  On my fieldwork days I take my son along with me and he hangs out with the three-year-olds in the nursery class I am observing. On the other days I get the usual questions "What do you do all day?" "Don't you get bored?" Lately there has been lots of snow and ice outside so yes you could get a little cabin fever but I think we do a pretty good job keeping busy. Of course there's they typical housework of tidying, laundry and cooking. I try to keep him involved in as many tasks possible.  He will help me load the washer and dryer, add spices during meal prep and some other easy cooking preparations. He loves to cook and bake with me.  We do lots of baking, he loves mixing in the ingredients!  We also do lots of arts n craft projects involving upcoming holiday and others just for fun.  He loves to color and draw and has gotten pretty good at it! On snow days we build snowmen and snow castles out of the snow.  Other times we go out to mommy and me classes at our local library or have play dates with his cousin or friends.  We run typical errands and food shopping and it can be difficult to find time for my schoolwork with a toddler around.  In a pinch there's always YouTube and Netflix, which I do make use of when necessary although he loves to play Lego, do puzzles and play with other toys. Despite some struggles, I love that I am able to be home with my son all day it is the most satisfying job in the world being able to watch him grow up and not miss out on a thing.  There's an intro to my life....until next time! :)