Kids

My sister Michal gave birth to a baby girl early this morning. A pregnancy full of worries came to a happy end. Mother and baby are fine, grandparents delirious with joy, uncle soon on his way to visit. The only photo I got sent from the hospital featured michal's exposed, breastfeeding bosom. I won't post it here without her permission, so While I get enchanted by little miss tiny toes, enjoy an ode to her on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4P5b4PBYeSI

It's actually been a week full of babies. DL and I helped look after the wife and son of a VIP foreign guest. We showed them around the country, fed them the local fare and helped them deal with the intense heat. The child, nearly two years old, was one of the sweetest most beautiful kids you'll ever meet, and also much more than a handful. He wears his mother out as I write this, somewhere in a posh Tel-Aviv hotel room.

Looking at her over the week, I wondered to what extant parenting was her dream come true. I also realized that it has to be a dream come true, to justify the complete surrender of one's life to a curly-headed, Elmo loving, constantly moving, food splattering cause. As much as I love kids, uncle-ing becomes me much more than parenting at this point in life. It's wonderful that Michal, her husband Noam and their daughter Meitar all give me the chance to indulge in it.