My three children and I had a tradition of celebrating the end of our week at work and school with Friday night “Party Night” for several years before I began my Jewish journey. This usually meant that the normal rules of the week were set aside: no-one had to do homework, take a bath or shower, or rush to get through dinner. Instead, we would go to the store and buy candy, order pizza, sit in our pyjamas and watch a movie or something on television. There was no stress or formality to the evening, and I would often let the children stay up later than usual and sometimes we would have a sleepover in my bed. We would try to eat at the table some nights, and go around the table to say three things we were happy about that week, one thing we wanted to change, and one thing we liked about the others. It was a very special time for us when we felt very close to each other.

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