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2 weeks ago | 
njjewishnews.timesofisrael.com | Banji Ganchrow
In previous columns I have reminisced about how, when you have kids at home, the changing of the seasons is defined by what activities they have. For example, you know it is fall when they have soccer, and you are watching them play in the freezing cold, long after the sun has gone down. And you know it is summer when you start buying supplies for camp. Lots and lots of socks and underwear. The newest style of t-shirt-dry fit, cotton… With boys it was always easy and never that exciting.
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3 weeks ago | 
njjewishnews.timesofisrael.com | Banji Ganchrow
The power of the senses. It is really an amazing thing. For the rest of my life, the scent of Right Guard deodorant will remind me of my father. The scent of Shower to Shower powder (if they still make it) will bring me back to sleepovers that I had at my grandparents. And the scent of Drakkar cologne just brings me back to my entire adolescence. Ahh, good times. And then there is the taste of rice pudding.
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1 month ago | 
njjewishnews.timesofisrael.com | Banji Ganchrow
The Greenhouse effect. Global warming. Melting ice caps. Fossil fuels. The generation that is destroying the environment. Honestly and apologetically, I don’t understand any of it. I have not done any research on it, and, well, again apologetically, I don’t get it. What I do get is that Memorial Day weekend used to be the kick-off to summer festivities. Lounging by someone else’s pool, mooching off someone else’s barbecue…apparently, it might not exactly have been the case this past weekend.
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1 month ago | 
njjewishnews.timesofisrael.com | Banji Ganchrow
After marrying Husband #1, I learned all about coupons and refunds, about not turning on the heat until your lips turn blue and not turning on the air conditioning until you see steam rising from the carpet, about fighting erroneous credit card charges, and getting your money back if you aren’t happy with something. I am not proud, well, actually, sometimes I am proud.
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1 month ago | 
njjewishnews.timesofisrael.com | Banji Ganchrow
Another Mother’s Day in the books. Son #1 got me a great card and signed everyone’s name. DIL#2 had picked out a gift for me months ago and put a “reminder” on it so she would remember to get it for me. She looped my other daughters-in-law in, and it was a really beautiful and thoughtful gift. I really do love my girls. I got to zoom with Danish and her sister and their mom. Danish kept saying, “Babka you come to door in new house?
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1 month ago | 
njjewishnews.timesofisrael.com | Banji Ganchrow
Happy Mother’s Day! For this special day that my Oreos no longer celebrate, whatever, I asked Husband #1 if I would be able to write a column exclusively written to make fun of him. That would be my gift to myself from myself. Honestly, he is not so onboard. And my response is, if you aren’t so onboard, you shouldn’t do things that I want to make fun of in the first place. Tell me, folks, am I the only one who feels this way? Do you all live with people who know how to react to a household issue?
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1 month ago | 
njjewishnews.timesofisrael.com | Banji Ganchrow
The famous and true saying is that man plans and God laughs. And though we believe that God is in control all the time, sometimes He does things for us — both good and bad — that let us know who is in charge. And it isn’t us. We can think there are things that we can control, but in reality, it isn’t true. For three weeks I had the privilege and pleasure of hosting my Israeli cutie pies. We were at my home for some of the nights, we were in a hotel for some of the nights, and it was all wonderful.
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2 months ago | 
njjewishnews.timesofisrael.com | Banji Ganchrow
Hello! I hope you all had a wonderful Passover holiday. I hope that all your questions were answered, that your family got along, and that you didn’t go into bankruptcy paying for the food. Personally, thank God, I had a really wonderful holiday. By the time you read this, Danish and her sister, with God’s help, will be back in their homeland of Israel. And I will be very sad. This is what happens when your kids live far away.
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2 months ago | 
jewishstandard.timesofisrael.com | Banji Ganchrow |Deb Herman
Before I begin, let’s discuss the concept of “being spoiled.” And since it is my column, I will talk about me. Am I spoiled? My dad always said, “You can always have more, but more people have less.”So am I spoiled? To a certain extent, yes. Do I have cleaning help? No, I do not. Am I wearing the same clothes from 20 years ago? Yes. Does that make me less spoiled? Probably not, but, whatever. In relation to the holiday of Passover, I have been very spoiled. (Of course, that is all relative as well. Mexico?
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2 months ago | 
jewishstandard.timesofisrael.com | Banji Ganchrow |Deb Herman
I sit before you at the beauty parlor, as my grandmother would call it. As I have written about before, my Oreos, for some reason, do not like when their mother goes gray, so here I am. I would rather be almost anywhere else. But the last time I tried to color my own hair, it turned a lovely shade of orange, so that was the end of that.
