It’s 12:30 p.m. and I have still have more cooking to do for Passover today. So far, I’ve made charoses and matzah balls. This afternoon, I’ll make a flourless chocolate cake. Also, I need to roast a chicken and some broccoli for tonight’s Shabbat dinner. It’s madness, yet I’m enjoying it! I’m thankful I can stand on my feet again. On this day, last year, I was only able to bear 2/3 of my body weight on my foot while on crutches since I was recovering from foot surgery. This year, I’m able to do it all. However, I know I have to pace myself so I’m taking a break at my desk and leaving some comments on other Slicers’ posts before I start on the chicken, broccoli, and the cake.
Before I began cooking this morning, I did something that didn’t have to be done today, but it mattered so much to the ten-year-old girl in this house. I offered to give her a manicure. I made her an early-morning deal: “If you can get washed up, dressed, and make your bed in the next 15 minutes, then I will do your nails.” Seeing as she’s only had nailpolish on her fingernails three times in her life, she raced through her morning routine and beat the timer, like I knew she would, so that she could get her nails done.
Isabelle picked out a pink bottle of Zoya nailpolish from my nailpolish drawer. I grabbed the Midrash Manicure nail art decals, bottom and top coats, and an orange wood stick so we could get started.
After I applied the polish to Isabelle’s thumb I asked her, “Do you like the color?”
“I love it!” she replied.
I could see, on her face, that she felt like a grown girl getting her fingernails painted.
I took out the nail decals after the two coats of pink polish dried.
“Would you like to do one hand of biblical plagues and one hand with modern plagues?” I asked.
“Yeah, that sounds good,” Isabelle said.
Together, we picked out the decals that would go on each finger. As I applied each one of the modern plagues decals — which included French fries (for unhealthy food), a Like icon (for social media), a coffee cup (caffeine), mosquitos (for mosquito-borne illness), and a fidget spinner (for distractions) — to Isabelle’s nails we talked about how these are more relevant to our times.
Once we were finished, Isabelle couldn’t wait for her nails to dry since she wanted to show them to her teacher via Zoom. At 8:55 a.m., she ran upstairs to sign onto her remote school day early so she could share her manicure with her teacher.
*****
Okay, back to cooking now!
Raising Literate Humans 
Aww, little girls and nails! Reminds me of the rhyme, “Sugar and spice, and all that’s nice…”
Thanks to your posts, I’ve looked up the history of Passover. Very interesting!
I love that she was excited to share with her teacher. My kids tell their teacher’s everything. I love that they have other great grownups to share their stories with.
Sounds like a fun way to get ready for the holiday! I can’t believe how grown up the girls are getting.
Shavua tov! I hope your Shabbat dinner was wonderful. And I love that you paused to do something that didn’t have to be done but that brought Isabelle such joy. I found the modern plagues fascinating & have looked them up – lots to think about.
How exciting for Isabelle – and the decals added depth to the decor. Thanks for sharing – I’m off to learn more about Passover.
I love the idea of the modern plagues… I hadn’t thought about this! Chag Sameach!
What a sweet moment you were able to share. And bravo to you for being able to carve that time out with all of the Passover preparations. I’ve taken care of the desserts, the charoset and the matzo ball soup. My husband cooks the dinner – we’ve got a nice system here! As for the ancient and modern plagues – that’s new to me! You’ve inspired me to look them up and share them at tonight’s seder. Chag sameach!