I've been displaced

...as the person who says the Sabbath prayer and the blessing over the bread and wine (in my case, hard cider).

 Tonight Rachel announced that SHE wanted to say the prayers aloud herself. "Don't say the prayers, Mommy," she instructed me. So she said the prayer recognizably, as well as the blessing over the motzi and wine, and I was so proud of her that I bent down and kissed her on the cheek and said, "I am so PROUD of you!"

 The fact that we must, at her insistence, listen to a CD of Jewish songs every night probably has something to do with it. I can't wait until she's ready for Hebrew school!

***

This morning, on the way to preschool, Rachel said: "Mommy, you're a medium-sized girl. And Daddy is very big!"

 ***

Rachel has suddenly gotten very clingy at bedtime.

"Stay. Stay. Stay!" she urged tonight.

"Why do you want me to stay with you?" I asked.

"Because I want someone to cuddle with me all night!" she said.

"Well, who's going to cuddle with Daddy when he gets home?" I said.

"He can sleep by himself!" she said.

"I think he wants to cuddle with Mommy," I replied.

"Grandpa can cuddle with him!" she suggested.

"Sweetie, Grandpa lives in New York!" I exclaimed.

"He can take a train underground and come to our house!" she said.

I finally convinced her that Daddy doesn't like to cuddle with boys, he likes to cuddle with girls. And besides, Grandpa probably wouldn't want to cuddle with Daddy anyway. Right, Grandpa?