The next night

we got to do it all over again. More rest during the day, promise to oldest she could stay up if she napped, which she did.

Sort of.

See, she fell asleep around six, which would have been fine. We didn't get started until after nine, so if she had taken a two hour nap, all would have been well. But she stayed asleep, and Mrs. told me to leave her, so I did. Youngest stayed up a little, said as much of the Ma Nishtana as she could (which was quite a bit considering she's only two), and she went to bed soon after. I would have loved to follow suit, but stayed up till the bitter end.

Let me stop for a moment and talk about Matzah, since it plays such a critical role in Passover and the Seder. Matzah has two ingredients - flour & water. Our forefathers didn't have time for the bread to rise, thus we follow their example. (There are philosophical issues too - removing all the puffery and leavening from ourselves as well as our houses, etc.) By rule, you must eat a certain amount of Matzah for the seder; any "bread" you have during the week must be Matzah, but you don't have to have any if you don't want it, except at the seder. Called "poor man's bread", which my mom always says is ridiculous, given how expensive it is, it's about as delicious as drywall. Sometimes worse.

Many non-Jews I know love it, but that's because they can stop & have a Twinkie if they want to. For me, given its negative effects on my digestive system, I eat as little as possible. It tastes fine, but later... Let's just say dried fruit & prune juice are valuable commodities to have around. Regular bread is much more desirable when all you have is matzah.

Anyway, we finish again around 2AM, and I fall into bed, exhausted. Only to be awoken at 4:15 by oldest, who announces that she's done with her nap, and wants to know when the seder starts. Oy. Exhausted daddy, disappointed child. I promise her a seder of her own later, give her breakfast, and try & get her to play while I doze fitfully on the couch. I made Mrs. get up around 7AM so I could get some actual sleep. I missed services that morning, as I awoke for good around 9:30.

Oldest & I did a private seder for dinner that night, hitting the highlights and playing with a second Plagues toy, this time a set of finger puppets provided by my mom. And thus ended the first days.