End of Summer

Our daughter had her Bat Mitzvah last Saturday.

She did a fantastic job - she was poised, confident, and mature. I am so proud of her. I am so happy that the family, friends, and congregation were able to support her.

We try to stay as laid-back as possible when it comes to events and celebrations - because it's too easy to get stressed out over little things and miss the important stuff. It's good when people come together and celebrate life. 

And yet, I had to remind myself, multiple times - there is no Bat Mitzvah police (BMP). The food is not fancy enough? One of my kids' hair is a bit on the wild side? Ah well, it's not like the BMP is going to come after us. X, y, and z were not perfect? Good thing there is no BMP. 

We all had fun. There was dancing. There were games. And prizes. Honestly, I was very nervous about the games - I am not good at organizing people and telling them what to do. I should not have worried. Our 13-year old daughter organized and lead the games - and oh boy, she is good at getting people to do things!

Summer is wrapping up at a speed of light (300,000 km/s). We still  need to get a number of things for school (pencils! glue sticks! dry erasers!). Kids need some school-appropriate clothing (that's going to be a challenge... especially for the 9th grader who only wants to wear sports shorts and old t-shirts).

There are back-to-school activities coming up next week. I think we are actually going to skip everything except the high school open house. Because 1) that's the only one that's in the evening and 2) 4th and 8th graders already have a good feel for their schools and know how to find their way.

We are going to try and squeeze in a few more fun things.

 A trip to a new playground with friends.

A family bike ride.

A few more outings at the pool.

A trip to the bookstore.

A trip to the music store (to get saxophone fixed up and rent a cello for C)

And then the school starts.