Living Yesterday’s History

My friend called me today. She’s pregnant, and the shidduch she’s been working on is getting engaged.

I was talking to another friend, her baby’s walking.

Another friend had her third recently and regaled me with her disastrous night with all three kids up and wanting Mommy.

I just had my own kid, and it’s starting to hit me; I’m growing up.

We’re growing up, me and all my friends.

 We’re in responsible adult roles, mature relationships, having children, holding down jobs, running households, configuring budgets; we’re living our lives, not waiting for it to start anymore.

It’s scary and wondrous to think about it.

You look at your parents and wonder what they were like when they were younger. You look at their best friends and wonder what their relationship was like back then, or who did your parents associate with when you were born, how did they change, or stay the same. What did they look like? What did they wear?  What was your parents’ relationship like in their early marriage?

I’m living the curiosities of my children right now. What will they think, will they approve, be proud, be befuddled, bemused, entertained?

Besides for growing up, I have to mature, be the person I want my children to have as a parent. Do the right things, be in the right places, have the right hashkafos, the right friends…it’s like high school and shidduchim all over again, just a role reversal. I’m seeking my child’s approval.

So we’re growing up, were becoming families, and units, and life is happening every day; it’s an awesome and terrifying time to be alive.

Happy Birthday

For those that give a darn about the blog’s author and not just the content – MAZAL TOV!! I had a baby boy!!

Damning Demographics

Everyone knows how demographics works. In terms of advertising, advertisers will reach out to the demographic that uses their products and services in a way that will reach them. That explains beer commercials during the Super-Bowl, and Depends ads during Jeopardy. You’ll also see a lot more Ford pick-up commercials in Texas, and Jaguar ads in New York.

A few days ago, I was at my parents in Brooklyn. I was bored (as usual) and on the kitchen table lie a copy of Esra, it’s a monthly magazine that is almost solely ads for the Brooklyn area; I started flipping through it. The basic theme of it was marriage. There were ads for halls, makeup artists, shaitel machers with kallah specials, photographers, gown rentals, and the weight loss ads were geared toward “Your big day”. Suffice it to say, Brooklyn, is in the market of marriage, which is really nice to see thriving considering “THE SHIDDUCH CRISIS”

And then today, I was flipping through Lakewood’s BP Weekly, another circular. And what did I notice about the ads? Lakewood is in the market of pregnancy, kids, and major discounts. Almost all ads were for another maternity store, or pregnancy related service, the rest were children’s clothing, or child related, and if it was anything else, there was sure to be a big sale, or discount with mention of ad.

Now, I’m not telling you anymore than the stereotype. I just thought it was interesting to see solid evidence of the stereotypes integrity and reality.