DOWNLOAD THE NEW TWINIVERSITY APP!

The #1 Resource & Support Network for Parents of Twins

The #1 Resource & Support Network for Parents of Twins

Not Your Typical Passover: Frogs, Locusts, and Marshmallows

Not Your Typical Passover: Frogs, Locusts, and Marshmallows

Last updated on September 30th, 2021 at 10:14 am

rachel1My childhood memories of Passover are filled with consistently similar events year after year, apart from a growing family and more and more chairs (and noise) at the table. Always at my grandparents’ house, my Papa would lead our Seder with my Grandma at his side. White lacey tablecloths and green vintage floral china. That strong familiar voice leading our family in prayers as we walked through the story of Passover. Grandma lighting the candles and swiftly delivering our meal, course by course – matzo ball by matzo ball. The sharp scent of horseradish in the air, the sound of matzo breaking. Things were always the same, but it was good…tradition!

passover3Eight years ago, my Papa passed away after a brief but fierce battle with cancer. With the patriarch of our family suddenly missing, our family holidays and traditions shifted and changed. I think that it just didn’t feel right to continue everything exactly the same when something so huge was missing. And so we mixed things up. Different family members hosted, and as my aunt stepped up (and the kids in the family multiplied), our time-honored definition of Passover became more unusual, more interactive, more entertaining, and a bit noisier.

My aunt announced that we would have a Passover play, casting roles and emailing out scripts. Adults, teens, and small children were cast and given costumes to go with the part. The rest of the family watched (and laughed) as the story was acted out. Our sit down traditional Seder was supplemented with a more hands-on version (think flying marshmallows and plastic frogs in a room full of 40).

passover2Each person is given a baggy of plastic frogs, plastic bugs (lice), small toy animals (wild beasts), marshmallows (hail), etc. to represent the Ten Plagues. As my Aunt calls out each Plague, everyone throws their items across the room. Yes, this new tradition is chaotic, loud, and messy – and I have been hit in the face with many marshmallows. However, each year as our family grows and evolves we create a slightly new and funny memory of the holiday, and the kids have a more interactive and meaningful marshmallow filled experience.

passover4These new traditions are tied and weaved in with the old – you can always count on matzo balls, brisket, and good ole’ gefilte fish; Grandma lighting the candles, a loud and messy celebration, and excited kids running off to hide the Affikomen (which never gets found, and they always get paid).

This year is special to me, as it will be the first Passover for my 8-month-old fraternal girls. I know that before long, it will be them running around the house with their cousins scrambling to hide the Affikomen, just like I did over 20 years ago.

rachelteicherbrehmRachel Brehm, mother to 7-month-old fraternal twin girls, blogs regularly on eating disorder awareness and insurance denials for eating disorder treatment. Brehm writes for an Insurance Law Blog as well as an Eating Disorder Law Blog (rated as one of Top 25 Eating Disorder Blogs of 2012) focusing her writing on insurance advocacy, insurance coverage, body image, eating disorder recovery, and weight stigma. As a new contributor to Twiniversity.com, Brehm plans to shift her writing on body image issues in the insurance world to include body image issues in the mommy world. Brehm’s writing will address navigating pregnancy and postpartum with eating/body image issues as well as her experiences raising twin girls-and all the “twin moments” that go along with it.

Subscribe to Our Mailing List


/ /

Staying Informed

Recent Posts

Kids and Car Sickness
Best Playpen for Twins
What I Forgot to Ask at My Hospital Tour
Choosing Names for Twins
70% Our Bestselling Twiniversity Classes On Leap Day ONLY