Deli chavurah

Our chavurah met tonight and the theme was "New York Deli." Drew offered to bring hot dogs and buns, which we did, and he strenuously argued against me making any dessert, which I was sorely tempted to do. This time I listened and instead spent the afternoon cleaning the house. We are having dinner guests tomorrow -- Peter, a former colleague of mine from the Oregonian and now a best-selling book author, and his partner Sam, the former mayor of Portland. Yes, the house has to look perfect. Yes, the food has to be spectacular. And yes, I am just the tiniest bit nervous.

Rachel spent most of the chavurah playing with the other kids; we are now at the point where we can truly relax and socialize with the other grownups while the kids play. Toward the end of the evening Rachel kept coming in and announcing things she wanted to perform -- a song, a parade -- and started each announcement with, "Ladies and Gentlemen! Turn OFF your cell phones! I hope you are listening!"

(The adults continued talking).

Then she'd start marching, or fiddling with a stuffed cube that lit up, or a baton with streamers on the end, get bored or realize no one was listening, then run back into another room with Eva, the daughter of one of our chavurah members who I guess is about 10. Eva was very good-natured with Rachel; she chatted with her while they ate dinner together on the sofa and gave Rachel all the piggybacks she wanted. It is really heartening to see all the kids take Rachel into their fold and try to amuse her. I can tell it makes her feel special to be treated like a big kid.

On the way home she started getting very bossy. At one point, she scolded Drew, "Concentrate! You have to look for cars for Mommy to not crash into!" I had to gently scold her as she was getting ready for bed that sometimes it's funny how she tells us what to do but that's not really her place. I hope she got the message. It's hard to know when to shut her down, she's so droll!