Ruth Mason, at The Blogs

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Jun 6, 2019, 11:19 AM

Parenting 101: ‘What do you think he is feeling?’

Life in the Seventies Parenting 101: “What do you think he is feeling?” I’m learning a lot from my kids lately. Yesterday, Gabe, our youngest, told me about a scene on Master Chef that struck him. The camera had focused on...

Feb 14, 2019, 9:14 AM

Life in the 70s – Happiness is in your Head

It was 27-year-old Gabe’s idea to celebrate my 70th birthday in Sinai. Son #2, Yosef, flew in from Portland for the occasion. I worried about taking our baby granddaughter, but I know responsible people who take their kids there,...

Dec 7, 2018, 7:53 AM

Life in the Sixties: Turning 70

How terribly strange to be 70. -- Paul Simon When did 70 become young? I guess when us baby boomers started turning the age that I still can’t believe I will reach on Saturday. The older I get, the older old gets....

Dec 3, 2018, 9:09 PM

Life in the Sixties: Active, active listening

Everyone knows the received wisdom about how to listen well. The active/reflective listening dogma has its roots in the human potential movement of the 1960’s. Half a century later, its wise and gentle fingers still have a stranglehold on...

Nov 23, 2018, 12:53 AM

Life in the Sixties: I’m turning 70 soon. Can I get it all done?

I can’t come to grips with the fact that I won’t get it all done. This should become my new mantra. Repeat daily, as often as needed: I won’t get it all done. Maybe that will drive this unwelcome fact home. Maybe...

Feb 14, 2018, 9:58 PM

Life in the Sixties: Be with me

The other day, my daughter, who recently gave birth to her first child, was lamenting the isolation stay-at-home moms encounter. I agree with her that it is an unnatural state of affairs for mother-baby pairs not to be surrounded...

Apr 30, 2016, 9:42 PM

Life in the Sixties: Machatunim

Dedicated to Renee (Renya) Krakowski (Nana). Thanks for the introduction, Renee. Happy birthday. Imaginary scene: I’m in a café, meeting my son’s girlfriend’s mother for the first time – though we’ve whatsapped here and there, especially when the young couple...

Nov 11, 2015, 10:44 AM

Life in the Sixties: What’s behind the Do Disease?

The day is short and the work is much…Ethics of the Fathers, chapter 2 verse 15 A few years ago, struck by inspiration -- that faithless master -- I wrote a song called, "The Do Disease." Writing the song enabled...

May 26, 2015, 10:55 PM

Are our young people leaving us?

I’m in Manuel Antonio, a small beach town on Costa Rica’s Pacific Coast. In a population of 8,400 there are four Israeli families, all of whom arrived within the last four years. I met the couple that runs the...

Mar 14, 2015, 7:01 PM

Life in the 60’s: The lost art of letter-writing

“How wonderful it is to be able to write someone a letter! To feel like conveying your thoughts to a person, to sit at your desk and pick up a pen, to put your thoughts into words like this...

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About Me

Born to Bukharian parents in Los Angeles, Ruth Mason immigrated to Israel with her family in 1993 after a long stint in Manhattan. She is a veteran journalist and columnist who now writes for Shatil, the action arm of the New Israel Fund. A lifelong baby lover, she teaches parent-infant classes based on the RIE and Pikler approaches.

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