Ilana Grinblat
By Ilana Grinblat
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News New Year’s Resolutions
Recently, my son’s kindergarten class put on a special show for Hanukkah. For weeks leading up to the big day, the kids rehearsed the songs and practiced their lines with excitement — anticipating the big performance. On the day of the show, my son’s best friend, Jonah, came down with a fever and had to…
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News Stranger in a Strange Season
My 5-year-old son, Jeremy, likes to watch cartoons on television each morning as he gets ready for school. This month, I noticed that most of the programs seemed to revolve around Christmas, and were particularly focused on presents. For example, on “Jungle Junction,” the blue Elephant, Elizam, was searching for a gift for his friend…
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News Lost — And Found (Where You Least Expect It)
Last weekend, my 2-year old daughter, Hannah, lost one of her shoes. These were her favorite pair of shoes, and she refused to wear any others. My husband and I searched every nook and cranny of our house. We scoured our cars. We checked her stroller. We looked in the garage, in case they had…
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News Coming to Terms With Our Dreams
When my son Jeremy was 4, I took him to the Zimmer Children’s Museum, near my home in Los Angeles. The exhibit includes a replica of the Western Wall in Jerusalem, with paper for children to write their prayers and insert them between the stones of the wall. I explained this idea to Jeremy, and…
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News The Courage To Lose
This past weekend, my family and I went out to eat at a restaurant. We happened to sit near a television showing a wrestling match. The two wrestlers were locked in a hold. One of the wrestlers wore blue shorts; the other wore red shorts. “Go blue!” My 5-year-old son Jeremy cheered. “Why are you…
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News What’s Worth the Wait
“Your friends are coming over for a play-date soon,” I told my 5-year-old son, Jeremy and 2-year-old daughter, Hannah. They immediately bounded out the door to wait on the sidewalk for their friends. “It’ll be a while until your friends come,” I said. “Wouldn’t you rather wait inside, where you can play with your toys?”…
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News Summarizing 15 Years — and Millennia
A college friend of mine recently found me on Facebook. We hadn’t spoken to each other since graduation, but I was happy to hear from him. Since we had been out of touch for so long, he began by summarizing the last 15 years of his life. In a few bullet-pointed sentences, he concisely explained…
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News Where ‘Love’ First Appears
Over the summer, I took my kids to the shore with my friend Mia and her children. At a beachside café, I explained to my 5-year-old son, Jeremy, what was on the children’s menu. “You can have macaroni and cheese,” I said. “Yay!” he said, jumping up and down. “Or you could have a grilled…
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