Your choice method of securing a successful Sefirah season — after all, we’re counting on you

Last week we asked you to choose your ideal method of Sefirah reminders and we suggested a few, including bumper stickers, kindergarten artwork, and cake — either cheese or sponge. We then opened the floor to the voters to hear your choice method of securing a successful Sefirah season — after all, we’re counting on you.

1. Every morning, when I make my bed, I automatically place the omer chart on my pillow. Therefore, even if I forget to count the omer in the evening, I will automatically be reminded at night when my head hits the chart (instead of my pillow). And after I count, I leave the chart on the night table so that I can restart the process in the morning.
2. We make it into a family group project. Every night, we read from a Sefiras Ha’omer sefer. We also have a mini gumball machine for each kid, in which we put 49 gumballs. After we read from the sefer, each child gets to release one gumball. There’s definitely no forgetting to count Sefirah in our family!
3. My method is to implement a punishment for myself in case I forget. I’m a huge coffee lover and there’s nothing that causes me more misery than showing up to shul and seeing that all they have is Folger’s Decaf coffee. So, my working method is as follows: I purchase a container of Folger’s Decaf and keep it next to my Nespresso machine. The very thought that I might have to consume that terrifies me into remembering.
4. There are 48 kinyanim of Torah, cited in the sixth perek of Pirkei Avos, and the idea is to work on one kinyan on each day of Sefirah, learning up until Matan Torah. On the 49th day, the focus is on the totality of all 48. Aside from a wonderful way to prepare for Shavuos, it can also serve as a great reminder to count Sefirah.

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 909)