By Leslie Alder, www.thevuvclub.com
A Bar/Bat Mitzvah is a rite of passage. The event is spiritual and wonderful and the party or celebration is absolutely a choice…so I have no sympathy for the anxiety anyone suffers when planning or paying for a big elaborate bash and I expect you to have none for me. That being said…..
I decided to pull out the “folder” I used to hold all the information and bills from my first child, Max’s Bar Mitzvah as “foreplay” to my beginning to dig in to the details of Sydney’s Bat Mitzvah….and then I allowed myself to do the math…and then I proceeded to have a full out, heart palpitating, anxiety attack.
I come by this type of anxiety honestly. My dad said, when making my wedding, that it was “like buying a Jaguar and driving it for four hours then pushing it off a cliff.” And though I don’t really believe this, though Max’s Bar Mitzvah was one of the best nights of my life, I am haunted by the technicality that this statement is somewhat true and these are the sensibilities I was raised with.
And just when I thought I had calmed down, I asked a dear friend who just made sweatshirts for her daughter last month to confirm I can do this for the same budget I did 3 years ago….she tells me she spent two and a half times as much….cha ching!
Then I went to my venue with a party planning/decorations type person I want to work with and she shared some brilliant ideas with me…and some numbers as in what these brilliant things cost……cha ching! And the palpitations returned. Is that a trial or a tribulation?
I don’t know. I just tell myself, “deep breaths ….you never really liked the way a Jaguar looked anyway.”
About Leslie Adler
Leslie Adler is a mother, lawyer and creator of www.thevuvclub.com and shares her witty thoughts on the many roles women play in their everyday lives. Leslie also combines her legal skills and friendship experience as presiding judge of Momlogic’s “The Friendship Court.”
We hope you will follow along as this Mitzvah Mom updates us on all the highs and lows leading up to her daughter’s May 2010 Bat Mitzvah. Everything from conflicts with other children’s dates to the dress, catering and other Vendor drama. Leslie will bring humor to this exciting yet stressful time for many families.
Read Part 1 here.
Read Part 2 here.