Please meet Mary, Jonathan, and Jack (2) as our new Family of the Month! The Haar family lives in Columbia and Jack attends Bet Yeladim Preschool. Mary is the Vice President of Community Planning and Allocations at The Associated and Jonathan is a Single-Family Analyst. The Haar family loves PJ Library books. Read all about them below!
What is your family's favorite PJ Library book?
Our current favorite PJ Library book is the Colors of My Jewish Year. Jack is excited to identify each color, and we're excited to make connections to Jewish holidays and objects. Additionally, a childhood favorite of Jonathan's is The Castle on Hester Street. Although it was not a PJ Library book when Jonathan was a child, he was excited to see that it has become a PJ Library book and looks forward to reading it with Jack when he's older.
Why is PJ Library important in your home?
We enjoy reading and are proud to be Jewish. It's important to us to teach Jack about Jewish values, traditions, and customs, and to share our love of reading. PJ Library provides that platform for both in age-appropriate ways. We're grateful to PJ Library and the Jewish Federation of Howard County that Jack has access to so many Jewish books. We adore PJ Library, and we registered to begin the program as early as we possibly could (when Jack was six months old)!
What is your favorite PJ Library program?
Our favorite PJ Library program to date was Hanukkah Helpers, a program in partnership with Jack's school, Bet Yeladim, to shop for groceries for people in our community. It was fun to engage Jack in a mitzvah that he could understand at the most basic level - buying food and helping people. Jack was over the moon to see his friends shopping, and it was meaningful to participate in this opportunity together as a family and with other PJ Library families to help people in our community who are hungry.
What is your bedtime routine with your little one?
After dinner and an opportunity to FaceTime with his Grammy, Buba, and Grandpa, Jack has a bath and brushes his teeth. We like to snuggle together to read before bedtime while Jack enjoys a cup of milk. After a story, we turn out the lights and gaze at the stars and colored lights on the ceiling (from a star projector).
We hope you enjoyed getting to know the Haar Family this month! If you'd like to be featured as an upcoming Family of the Month, please email Allison.