Twins Bnai Mitzvah: Partying and Kvelling

[Composed 5/27/2022]

What a whirlind the last 48 hours have been! We kicked off D & C's B'nai mitzvah weekend with a Friday night dinner for those of us who came in from out of town. The Kosher Chineese food was delish, and seeing family and friends was such a treat.

D knocked it out of the park on Saturday where he read the entire Torah portion and the Haftarah as well. He's a little Torah reading machine! Even the Rabbi was impressed with his leining, saying that no student he had ever had read so much Torah, so well.

And finally, today we all thoroughly enjoyed a party worthy of the simcha! We danced, listened to speeches, ate way too much chocolate and goof'ed it up in the photo-booth. Before we knew it, the DJ was winding things down and we found ourselves helping to clean up.

C gave a speech at the party, and while this was outside of her comfort zone, she stepped up to the occasion and did a wonderful job. We's so proud of both the kids.

Editor's note: The photo below of J eating Thai food is from a side-meal Shira, J and J's Mom took. J ordered frog's legs for dinner, a first for him. J has to be first person to ever read Parsha Shemini and think, hmmm that gives me an idea of what to eat for dinner. So proud of him for trying something new.

Twins Bnai Mitzvah: Family Pics and Rehearsal

Next up on our activity checklist for C and D's B'nai Mitzvah was to participate in 'pictures.' Because you can't take photos on Shabbat, the day that C & D will be having their B'nai Miztvah, the plan was to gather so that various staged photos could be taken before hand. This is a practice both Shira and I are intimately familiar with. If you are a non-photogenic introvert, like my 13 year old self, 'pictures' was an ordeal. If you were a confident, picture-perfect-smiling young lady like my wife, then pictures were merely a blip in an otherwise enjoyable simcha.

My parents' philosophy, which I've sinced inherited, is that there's something powerful about Bar/Bat Mitzvah pictures. Because you can't record the actual day of, the staged photos become the record for the day. It doesn't matter if you flub a part of your Haftarah or speech. Once the photos are taken on Friday afternoon, you can breathe a sigh of relief, because recorded history shows all smiles.

It was a delight to see the kids all dressed up, and I couldn't resist grabbing a few of my own pics while the photographer did his thing.

We also heard D read the tail end of his Haftarah, which he did with such incredible confidence. He's going to crush it!

In a couple of hours Shabbat will begin and so will the festivities. We can't wait!

Twins Bnai Mitzvah: Braids and Trains

It's simcha time! We're in Tampa to celebrate D and C's Bnai Mitzvah. Can I believe that the two precious angels we met in the NICU are 13 years old? No, no I can not. But I better get on board quickly, as this event is happening!

We have a couple of missions for today, the first one being to get the kids' hair done. My Mother-in-Law booked the salon appointment, and I have to admit, I was a bit nervous as to how this was all going to go down. I had visions of 3 fidgety, impatient children waiting around while one uncooperative child sat in protest, refusing to allow her hair to be cut or styled.

We walked into Party N Style kids salon, and almost immediately, I realized my fears were unfounded. Three delightful stylists were ready to go to work on the kids, and the bright and fun surroundings put everyone at ease. Each of the stylist's stations were equipped with a TV and the kids could choose what movie they wanted to watch (their preference: Trolls 2). But more than the setup, the stylists were friendly, knowledgeable and patient. Each of the kids got a wash, trim and style, and there was not a complaint or concern heard the whole time.

T's hair is on the shorter side, so she worried that none of the fancy braids her sisters got would work for her. When pressed, she told her stylist what kind of braid she wanted and the stylist made it happen.

Conventional wisdom suggests that once one of the kids hair was cut, they'd sit around and watch TV while their siblings finished up. That would have been me, anyway. But not D. On our way into the shop, he noticed train tracks across the street. Once D's hair was cut and he had to wait for his sister to finish up, he was excited go outside the store and watch for a possible train sighting.

I'm telling you, persistence like this in the face of unlikely odds (would a train really come by now?) is exactly the mentality that changes the world. Good for you, D!

We walked out of the salon with three young ladies sporting gorgeous hairdos and one sharply trimmed young man. The weekend was off to a good start!