I’m Tzivia, the mother of seven wonderful kids and one astounding mess. I try to raise the kids and reduce the mess. It doesn’t always work.

In the Himmelblau home, filled as it is with children, love, and joy, one mother attempts to maneuver her way between the demands of the elementary school (Attention, dear mothers…) and the high school (Your daughter has missed three major tests this semester), the cheder and the playgroup, her own studies, work, and just life in general. There is also a perpetually calm husband who does not ruffle easily, and it’s not clear whether this is part of the problem or the solution.

Once upon a lifetime ago, she was an orderly young lady, and then an organized young married woman. Right up until the balagan (mess) monster came, sending its hairy hands into every corner of the house, stealing peelers and swallowing socks.

In the battle of titans between the tidiness sorceress and the mess monster, Tzivia discovers new realities, boundaries of which she was unaware, and other startling truths. And while raising seven children and one major mess, she learns to raise herself as well.

New from Ruti Kepler, author of Landscape Girl, and Light Years Away.