Wednesday, February 06, 2008

A Catholic and a Jew all in the same week

rapper MC is born....



yo yo yo.....






We'll get back to my rapper girl later......

Ok first off if anyone reading this is devoutly religious without a sense of humor, skip this one.

I was raised Catholic in a pre-dominately Jewish neighborhood. I was actually really into being Catholic - going to Catholic retreats and singing in the folk group. It was very important to me to go to a Catholic college, which I did. And there I lost interest. Freshman year was the end of my Catholic days.

So here we are 20+ years later and I haven't given religion a thought. My Mother has been horrified that Maya hasn't been baptized and my response has been I'm not going to participate in something if I don't believe in it. But then again.......my very dear friend Kathy, also Irish, also raised Catholic, and also non-practicing has a good point. She had her daughters baptized. Why? Because......what if we're wrong. Hummmmmm.....food for thought. Wouldn't want her burning in hell because Mama was stubborn.

All of this is a preface to how I became a practicing Catholic and a Jew all in the same week.

It all began with wanting to pull Maya out of Primrose for reasons not worth getting into. Just the right thing for her. Who knew just how difficult it is to get a 19 month old into a pre-school!!! I had no idea. Everywhere I called had waiting lists and lotteries. Of course I sought all of my friend's advice about where they sent their kids, who has the best reputation, etc...

I started calling, filling out applications, touring, and getting overwhelmed by it all. I'd heard great things about a Catholic school that doesn't start until age 3 and goes thru 6th grade. Maya wouldn't be eligible until Fall of 2009. BUT I was told, "get on the waiting list now!" I did. And by the way, there is a much better chance if you are a member of the parish. Well........do you hear that? That sound would be the angels singing, Ahhhhhhhhh in response to my Mother's prayers. As she says "The Secret" works.

What the hell. I joined the parish. We have to go to church 2x/month minimum to be active members. And yes, Maya will be baptized. I mean I'm already there.

We also applied to Montessori which I am excited about and hope she gets in for Fall of this year. This school goes through 6th grade as well. I loved everything about it. We find out in March. Again - lottery. Oh and there is an interview for this one. I go on Friday. One of the schools I called initially, the JCC (Jewish Community Center) has a great reputation in the area. Everyone raves about it. When I called them I was told not much of a chance of us getting in since we weren't members. I was told by friends that it is quite diverse - about 50% Jewish and 50% everything else. That appealed to me - the diversity. Personally, I think diversity is important. In fact my main objection to the Catholic school is the lack of diversity - a sea of blonde hair and blue eyes.

The JCC called the same week I joined the Catholic parish to say they opened a new Toddler class and have a spot for Maya starting the next week. I was delighted. Ran down there, toured, and signed a bunch of papers. One of which made me a high member. No clue if I spelled that correctly and no idea what it means. I think I'm a Jew now too. Basically I've gone from agnostic to card carrying member of two religions in a week all for the benefit of a 19 month old's education.

It sounds crazy right? I know. I never thought I'd be obsessed with all of this at her age. After all of this I just want her somewhere that I think is good for her and I don't have to go through this again until college.

It actually doesn't feel bad to be back at Church. Amazing how all of those rituals come back as if it were yesterday. I really like our Priest and Maya LOVES the singing. When they stop she says more...more...and claps. Maybe it will be a good thing for us. Do you hear that???? Yeah, the angels again.

And I do like the JCC. I like the community there, the core values of their belief system, and the embracing of all cultures.

In the end however, it seems her future is as a rapper. I turned around yesterday and she had pulled her coat off of the railing and my hat. This is her feminine ensemble. I'm so proud.

5 comments:

E. said...

Single Jewish girl here (found your link on a site while researching Kazak adoption) and I'm hysterical laughing at your most recent post!!
I have a good Catholic friend who has a daughter (adopted from China) that was having problems in her Catholic school. She was open to all schools, including the local Jewish school. It's really cute to hear the little kids sing the blessings over the grape juice, challah (bread), and Sabbath candles. Oh, and being a "Chai" member is probably some sort of higher membership to the community center(?).
And hey, if you can't pick one, might as well grab a little belief from here and there. :)

Kim said...

LOL that was hysterical. I was raised Catholic with Mom and my stepdad who is Jewish. Pretty funny stuff. Ohh the things we do for our kids!

Kim
Kimmertek@aol.com

Our Family of Bloggers said...

Very, very funny. I was laughing outloud! Whatever works, right!?!?
And Maya is really just so adorable!
PS- I don't know if you remember me- I emailed you a long while back. We got back 2 months ago from Astana with CAI.

Dana said...

I just came across your blog and I'm so sorry I missed your time in Astana. I came back from Astana in July 07 with a 12 month old. I love to watch a family come together in the same babyhouse, playroom, where my family came together. It's such a wonderful experience. I'll have to catch up. I was also very close to naming my daughter Maya or Mia, love them both. Wish I was closer to join that mommy group, I'm in NJ and single.

françoise said...

bonjour ,


je me permets d'écrire sur ce site ou ce blog .
je me présente : Françoise Boulnois ( francoise.boulnois@tele2.fr ) vivant en France et ayant adopté une petite fille à Pavlodar en mars 2008 .
Ma fille Léopoldine avait 2 ans et quatre mois quand je l'ai connu .
j'ai découvert par hasard sur un blog de canadiens : Julie et Stephan ayant adopté Angélika Allard une photo de ma fille de profil .
Je cherche à les joindre , peut-être auraient ils d'autres de photos de ma fille prises notamment le 02 septembre 2007 lors d'un spectacle donné à l'orphelinat .
ce serait une joie immense de pouvoir y parvenir .

merci d'avance .

Françoise , maman de Léopoldine, Anastasia


Hello,

Alow me to write you.

My name is Françoise Boulnois ( francoise.boulnois@tele2.fr ) ; I live in France and since march 2008 I’m the adoptive mother of a little girl from Pavlodar’s baby house.

My daughter, Léopoldine (Anastasia), was aged of 28 months when I met her.

By chance, I discovered on the web blog of Julie & Stephan (Angelika’s adoptive parents) a photograph of my daughter.

I’m trying to contact them, perharps could they have others photographs of my daughter at the orphelina’s show the 2th of september (2007).

It will be a huge joy for me to have a contact with them.

Thanks a lot.

Françoise, Léopoldine’s mother (Anastasia).