FeeFiFoto Blog

Bar Mitzvah Debriefing

Why, thanks for asking. 

The Bar Mitzvah and party were grand without grandiosity.  Spending the day with one of my favorite people and her family was a pleasure. 

And the Bar Mitzvah boy?  Well, my invitation to Jon Stewart's Bar Mitzvah got lost in the mail, but I'd bet his was somewhat like the one Cleo and I attended last week.  BMB was the center of attention, he knew it, and he milked it for every laugh he could get.  He emoted his Torah portion like an opera singer and at one point he broke into a song from Fiddler on the Roof. 

Funny?  Yes.  Goofy?  A little.  Yet, it wasn't the least bit ridiculous -- more playful and joyful, which is how a Bar Mitzvah should be.

Housekeeping: I'd Rather Do It Here Than In My Actual House

First, I'm suffering from a cold that makes my head feel like it's filled with cement, so if I begin to appear incoherent please bring me some frozen pasta and glue 51 cent stamps to my wrists until October gleegle frhisogrn... umm, wait -- was that incoherent?  Sorry.

Second, thanks to everyone who sent best wishes to my dad: Daisy, Nessa, Fisher, Jack, Lynn, Lydia, Carol, Mom, Alice Audrey, Jamie and Ruthie.  We got better news than we had hoped for.  As you may know, after bypass surgery the new and remaining arteries develop additional small channels that help supplement established blood flow.  One of these small tributaries has closed up but there's no need for repair; the Man From D.A.D. went home at the end of the day and enjoyed all of Sweet Talker's weekend Bar Mitzvah festivities.

Bette Davis's Eyes Had Nothing On Cleopatra's: Choosing Eyeglasses For A Child

Found out a few days ago that Cleo might need glasses.  She'd been complaining that she couldn't read clocks so I took her to the pediatrician and they recommended she see an eye doctor.  The earliest appointment I could get was January 2; we have a strict family policy of needing medical attention or appliance repairs primarily during holiday weekends, so the Christmas season is the Holy Grail of inconvenience for us.  In fact, we've hit the inconvenience trifecta this time, since January 2 is also smack dab in the middle of Sweet Talker's Bar Mitzvah Weekend Musical Extravaganza.  We've already chosen three frame candidates so we can zip down the street between Bar Mitzvah festivities to order the specs if she in fact needs them.

I'm sad.  I always supposed my kids would need glasses; I wear them, as does every member of my family, so it seemed inevitable.  But Cleo!  Cleo has THE. MOST. GORGEOUS. hazel eyes I've ever seen, the exact color of gingerbread cookies.  They're irresistible and it's a good thing she's not on the Dark Side, since she can charm me into doing practically anything she wants just by turning those big browns in my direction.  And now those stunning golden masterpieces will be hidden behind spectacles.

Sigh.

Bar Mitzvah News: The Location Has Been Chosen

Looking for a Bar Mitzvah party location

Before Curley even had a chance to step up to the plate, Robey decided that the Unusual Museum would be acceptable for his coming-of-age fest.  His conversion ended up coming after lots of persuasion and silent treatment easily, and only six months since I began running the idea up the flagpole every day.  He and Cleo consulted with the Cool (or is it Hot?) Former Babysitter, who told them that her high school had held a prom there, and any place that was suitable for a high school prom was good with Robey.

I'll save Curley's influence for another day.

In other news, I interviewed and selected a photographer who I think will be perfect.  His work is creative and fun, and the albums are full of funky digital collages.

Who says planning a Bar Mitzvah is hard?  Piece of cake.  I have everything under control

Don't I?

Read more about the fits and starts of our Bar Mitzvah planning:

Our First Site Visit
Location, Location, Whatever
Update on Bar Mitzvah Plans
Would Somebody Please Take my Mother to Lunch?
Planning a Party Two Years In Advance

Update On Bar Mitzvah Plans

Election Standings prior to yesterday:

In favor of the Astonishingly Unusual Museum in an abandoned warehouse:

Me*
Curley**
Stretch
Sweet Talker

*It was my idea. Of course I think it's a good one.
**Always envious supportive of my superior creativity, she endorses my daring.

Opposed to the Astonishingly Unusual Museum:

Schpilkes+
Robespierre++

+What do you mean you don't want to hold it at the country club!? Who's ever heard of a Bar Mitzvah party not being held at a country club?!
++Yeah, what she said!! What about my reputation?

Undecided on the issue of the Astonishingly Unusual Museum:

Cleo~
The Man From D.A.D.~~
Click
Artypants

~What's in it for me?
~~Whatever you want, honey.  I trust your judgment.

Would Somebody Please Take My Mother To Lunch?

Because, seriously, her increasing obsession over concern about Robespierre's Bar Mitzvah is beginning to wear on me.

My treat.

Our First Site Visit

No, not a web site -- we're looking at Bar Mitzvah party sites.

There's an astonishing museum in our city designed and built in an abandoned warehouse by a madman who apparently never outgrew playing with Legos.  It opened about ten years ago with a kind of indoor playground that resembles what I imagine a Dungeons & Dragons set might look like (not that I have the vaguest idea what Dungeons & Dragons is like -- I was a different kind of nerd.)

There are fountains and hollow trees and haunted caves and rope ladders, all made from discarded building and restaurant and factory components and decorated with wondrous mosaics made from broken dishes and glassware.  There's a slide made from the closely spaced rotating thingies on conveyor belts, kind of like these, except without the wimpy padding and each one painted with abstract designs:

Location, Location, Whatever

 

Photo from alvingigi.com 

The quest for the ideal Bar Mitzvah party location begins.

Schpilkes assumed I'd shove the whole Bar Mitzvah ordeal celebration onto her lap and let her plan it, as she's really good at party planning and she knows how much I hate it.  Not just hate it -- I fear it.  While my sister, Curley, throws a party every chance she gets, even letting my kids throw their parties at her house, I restricted myself to holding the celebration for our grandmother's birthday, which was on July 4.  Entertaining on Independence Day is easy, as expectations are very low.  I'd provide cold cuts, potato salad and cake, which I let the kids decorate, and voila: par-tay.  But throwing a Thanksgiving dinner or a Passover seder?  ::shiver::  No way.  My family discourages me from trying, since they know I'd freak out so extravagantly they'd have to do all the work anyway and clean my house before and after.

I just want everyone to like me.  That's why, in addition to not entertaining, I'm reluctant to choose restaurants or movies in case my companions blame me if they don't like my recommendations. 

But now I really have no choice -- as much as I'd rather send an invitation with a contribution envelope and call it even, I can't.  A Bar Mitzvah calls for a celebration.

So, I'm prospecting for the ideal location.

See also:  Planning A Party Two Years In Advance

Where do you think I should have it?

Visit FeeFiFoto for personalized photo gifts.  We can't help you choose a location but we can provide all kinds of fun personalized Bar Mitzvah party favors.

Planning A Party Two Years In Advance

Commencement of Bar Mitzvah planning

Last week I received a letter confirming Robespierre's Bar Mitzvah date, in June of 2010.  For anyone who doesn't know, a Bar Mitzvah is a ceremony where a thirteen year old Jewish boy (for the girls it's called "Bat Mitzvah") reads passages from the Torah in Hebrew; it signifies a child's transition to all the rights and responsibilities of Jewish adulthood.  Before and after the ceremony there are approximately eleventy celebrations, each requiring new clothes for everyone involved, as well as photographers, videographers, bands, decorations, speeches, party favors, and oh yes -- food.  Meanwhile, a mortified terrified 13-year-old is expected to work the crowd with the ease of Barack Obama; on the other hand, the scope of gifts is astonishing.

So you know how The New York Times reports that the United States Olympic Committee will be preparing three meals a day for American athletes this summer in China, including beef, chicken and pork from Tyson, Frosted Flakes from Kellogg's, and more than 6000 pounds of ice a day?  Planning a Bar Mitzvah is like that.  Only way more complicated.  Especially for those of us who get stressed out even thinking about going to a party, much less throwing one a whole weekend full of them.

eek.

Do you like planning parties?  If so, would you like to plan this one?  Pretty please?

Visit FeeFiFoto to create lovely personalized photo gifts for Bar Mitzvahs and Bat Mitzvahs.