Purim Skates

I might have been distracted when Sifiso asked me to sign the indemnity form. Naomi wasn’t as horrified as she should have been. She tells me she assumed I was mistakenly duplicating the document she had already completed for Yudi. Nope, I had signed off permission for Shaina to roller skate. You heard me. I green-lighted skates

Rare Disease Day

I had never heard of Rare Disease Day. Rare diseases used to be an abstract concept reserved for unfortunate people elsewhere. Now the 28th of February is marked in my calendar- an unusual date used to mark an odd day. Our family is new to the Rare Disease community, and we don’t know the rules

Fear of needles

I’m not afraid of needles. Injections, blood tests, I don’t love ‘em, but I’m not scared of them. As long as I’m the patient, I’m okay. I could never have entered the medical field because I can’t bear to watch someone else being pricked and prodded. Shaina’s earliest symptoms- long before we had heard of

Shaina makes a Brocha

Our family wakes up at odd hours to do strange things. On Tuesday night, we had the Chicken Dance at 10:30 p.m. We have Games Night at midnight, 2:00 a.m. giggle sessions and the grand unpacking of cupboards at three in the morning. Shaina’s latest late-night escapade both surprised and gratified us. The room was

Time management

7:58 yesterday morning. I’m due to address the Torah Academy primary school at 8:00. At 8:15, Naomi and I are meeting with some of Shaina’s team (principal, teacher, facilitator, and therapists). I teach a weekly class in Glenhazel at 9:00 and another in Sandton at 10:30. Straight after that, I am meeting someone at my

Singing in the bath

By now, you know that Shaina loves to sing. She barely talks but can belt out the lyrics of dozens of songs (admittedly, with her own pronunciation). Shaina insists that I sing along with her and can’t understand how her verbal dad doesn’t know all the songs. She often surprises us with words from a

It’s not always fun as the sibling

Whohoo! We survived the summer vacation and returned our kids to school intact. Ask us how our summer went, and we’ll politely respond that Shaina is happy to be back in the structured social environment of the classroom. I wouldn’t suggest you ask our other children how their holiday was. Luckily, they’re too old for

Summer vacation?

“Joburg is wonderful at this time of the year”. Half the people who make this claim are never here over December. The rest of us find it “wonderful”… half the time. Johannesburg used to grow blissfully tranquil at this time of year as locals flocked to the coast. We would enjoy hot but not humid

I Keen!

A great big wooden chair sits at the front of our Shul, right next to the Ark. One of our Sephardic members donated this “Sandek” chair a few years ago. Grandfathers and respected rabbis have since held infants for their bris while sitting on that chair. It is a chair that represents joy, new life,

Thawing out in the New York winter

New York offered an icy welcome when I landed there last Monday. My daughters tell me the mercury dropped as I stepped off the plane. Frosty as the weather was, I looked forward to a warm experience at the annual Kinus conference.  Or did I? This trip to New York would stir up past traumas