The Pookies: Passover

We had a wonderful Passover seder at our house on Monday.

As long as Sara and Ellen have lived in California, we have had a Passover seder at their house. Sara and the family very graciously offered to hold the family seder at our house since travel is tricky with our gaggle of kids.

The seder table

Tegan and Lailah's first passover

For my non Jewish readers, Passover is a big holiday for Jews. It is a a seven day long holiday commemorating the story of Exodus. The first night of Passover is celebrated with a Seder, which is a long meal full of prayers and rituals and stories. As a side note it is one of my favorite holidays.

getting ready to sing the first question

For weeks, I have been preparing Malachy for Passover and the seder. As the youngest child at the table, it is his responsibility to ask the 4 questions (in Hebrew). He quickly learned the words to the first question...and then picked up bits and pieces of the others. I decided to have him master one question this year, he could do the others next year. I also wanted to prepare him for what would be happening. It is a long meal with a lot going on.

Ruth finishes asking the questions

In summary, it was a lovely seder. Sara always does a very nice job. (the fact that it is mandated to drink four cups of wine during the meal doesn't hurt). Mal sang the first question for everyone beautifully and completely relished in the ritual of the seder. He was genuinely happy to be with his family, singing songs, learning about Passover and eating together. He did better than I could have ever expected, and is still talking about how much he loved the seder that Auntie Sara made for us. Both Tegan and Lailah did amazingly well also sitting in their high chairs watching all the craziness going on around them. I know they wont remember it this year, but they really did seem to enjoy themselves.

Mal is also happy to be able to drink grape juice and eat matzo during Passover. While Mal is allergic to real matzo, his grandma Eileen has found a gluten free substitute, that both Malachy and his cousin Jacob love to eat. It tastes gross to everyone else, but he loves it, so that is all that matters.

Here are some pictures from the seder (I can't figure out how to make a slideshow, so the ugly formatting will have to do)