A Shabbat Surprise

I decided to take Rachel to synagogue with me tonight, since Drew was away, and Rachel was very excited at the idea that she might see the Rabbi. She even brought her special Jewish doll, Sophie, to show him. Unfortunately he wasn't there tonight -- home sick with a cold -- and his assistant rabbi was just not that inspiring.

What made up for it was we met our friends Melissa (the woman with whom I went to see "Swan Lake" last week) and her kids, Jeremy and Natalie. Rachel absolutely worships Natalie; she keeps asking when Natalie will be old enough to babysit her. She considers her a friend, and I don't have the heart to tell her that a 12-year-old really doesn't want to hang around a 4 1/2-year-old, however cute said 4 1/2-year-old may be.

We didn't know they'd all be there, and I immediately asked them to join us for dinner at Kenny & Zuke's after the service -- Kenny & Zuke's approximates a New York deli -- and we all had a nice time. Rachel was so excited to sit next to Natalie and talk to her that I really had to get on her case to finish her matzo ball soup (poor thing, she also has the sniffles and sneezies). Melissa and I actually had a chance to talk, while Jeremy was fairly annoying, as most 13-year-old boys are. (Rachel said he kept bothering Natalie during services, which she said was "very rude." "Isn't it interesting that a 4 1/2-year-old behaved better than he did?" I asked her in the car on the way to the restaurant. "Well, he's a boy," she answered with a world weariness that almost made me laugh).

When we came home I surprised Rachel with a chocolate cupcake I had brought back from Willamette earlier this week. She was very careful to eat over her plate and not get crumbs on the floor.

"There's only one place a cupcake belongs," Rachel said as she was finishing up. "On your plate or in your tummy!"

"You're definitely ready to be a mom," I told her.

"I can't skip kindergarten!" she answered. "I have to learn math. And besides, I'm not strong enough and I'm not tall enough. I can't be a mom."

You are already, sweetie.