My Daughter is a Party Animal

The kids and I celebrated my friends' daughter's bat mitzvah today. They had the service today, a Sunday, for several reasons:

1. The mom has a lot of family who are Orthodox and would not have been able to stay near enough to the synagogue (there are no hotels near that shul).

2. It was still Hanukah, so there was still a Torah reading even though it was Suday.

3. They had about a gazillion people, and the sanctuary there is small, so this way there was just about enough room (with extra chairs).

Anyway, the kids and I (David is in Ireland) got there a little late, and the service had already started. The place was packed. I was hanging up coats, the the boys were distracted talking to their friends, who had walked in with us. So we managed to lose track of Sofia just long enough...

I came out of the coat room, and started asking where she went. I followed the trail of nodding heads...until I spotted my daughter. Front and center. On the floor in front of the center steps leading up to the bimah (the "stage" where the Rabbi and Cantor stand). The Cantor (who is a friend) was hovering nearby, trying to block her way and/or argue with her. He should have known better. As I got near, she very purposefully started marching right up the steps.

I smoothly raced up and grabbed her. People commented later that I looked as if I'd practiced that move a lot (YUP!).

We found a seat, and she mostly settled in. The Cantor kindly came down to tell me that his office was unlocked and there were toys in there she could play with; we did spend the last 20 miutes of the service in his office. Much thanks!

The best was when we threw the candy at the bat mitzvah girl (we throw candy to shower the child with sweets, to celebrate the sweetness of the occasion). The younger kids are invited to come up and gather the candy after it is thrown. Sofia of course was the first one up there, and got a big handful of the candies. Micah went up after her, but couldn't find her. Then I spotted her...center aisle again, this time handing out candy to people sitting in seats!

After the service, we all got into the cars and headed over to the Elks Lodge in Natick for the party. It was a tight squeeze, but the party was lovely. Sofia took one look, shucked off her coat, threw it at me, shouted "Here, Mom, hold this" and ran to the dance floor. And stayed there just about the entire time.

I had to grab her during the "Coke & Pepsi" game so she wouldn't get trampled, and I had to hold her in my lap (on the floor, of course) during the candle-lighting ceremony so she wouldn't be in every picture. But otherwise, that child did not stop dancing.

And she flat-out refused to dance with ME, but had no problem asking all sorts of other adults to dance with her. Friends, strangers, she didn't care. As long as it wasn't Mama.

I did have to drag her out of there eventually, but she had SO much fun!

The boys had  fun too, although granted not as much as their sister. Sam had a headache most of the time, but he sat with his friends. Micah also had friends to hang out with.

I drove two other kids home; one is still here 5 hours later (hopefully his father doesn't completely forget about him; but I guess I can just bring him to school tomorrow...).

Pictures soon...