Scavenger Hunt

I was worried about what I would do with all the kids out of the house almost all day. But then I remembered my Sunday Morning Scavenger Hunts. 

See, every Shabbos or sometimes even Saturday night, I get thrown a list of clues. Literally, they throw them at me. These clues come wrapped tightly in the weekly "Daf Kesher" (Newsletters) that each child gets from his or her teacher. The newsletters in Israel are a Big Deal. Every aspect of what they learned, read, did--it's all in these sheets. Lose these sheets and your child literally should just stay home for the next week of school, as neither of you will have any idea what's flying.

Some children even have multiple newsletters. B's comes home weekly at about 4-5 pages. 2 from the homeroom teacher, 2 from the Torah teacher, and another 1-2 from the math teacher. Now take an average of 3 pages per child and there I am up to my elbows at the Shabbos table reading 18 pages (in small Hebrew font!) and trying to find my clues. 

The clues are usually listed in the "Announcements/Notices" section of these newsletters, and cleverly disguised as Things Your Children Will Need For School This Week , Or Else They Will Be The Only One Without It, And They Will Cry. A Lot. 

Well, once I read and decipher these clues, I have my list of items for my Sunday Morning Scavenger Hunt, and I can set out on my quest.

This week's list included:

A teeny tiny jar of honey

Nail scissors

(Yet another) binder

a geography book

The all elusive Sefer: Chumash Devarim

Hand towels

Now, while I appreciate a school in which they are constantly doing projects and always learning more and more, once I get my List of Clues I start to truly lament the lack of a Target or Walmart in the area. One Stop Shopping is a thing of the past.  Luckily I live right down the block from the shopping center, and if I play my cards right I should only need to hit...3...make that 4 stores for these six items. 

To make a long story short, it took me about 45 minutes to track down that small little jar of honey, the only nail scissors I could find came as part of a larger set of SIX pairs of scissors of various size, and (YES! you have to believe this part!) there are NO sefrei Devarim to be had in RBS (and haven't been for weeks)...and EEP! I forgot the towels!

Well, with nobody home, there's always tomorrow...