Quality Time

In the end my husband and I did spend quality time with our son at the siddur party, because he sat with us in the stands while we watched his classmates perform. He sang along and explained to us what was happening on stage, like when the girls danced into the number “60″ for sixty years of Israeli independence, and the girl with a cast who used only one pompom. I would have missed that.

The teacher was completely beseder and did not pressure him at all to participate (unlike his mother, who kept offering to take him down to join the others).

Overall the production was well done. It lasted two hours, including a few speeches. Most of it had to be choreographed and Y said he didn’t enjoy the moves they had to learn. One of the songs was accompanied by a percussion concert, and Y played along on his seat. He was supposed to play the darbuka.

The kids looked they were having a good time, so perhaps they did not feel pressured by all of the rehearsals.

The other boy did the diklum (recitation) by himself. I mentioned to Y that he looked okay to me. Y said, “You should see what he does in school.”

They showed two video clips that included close-ups of all the children. One had the first-grade boys in the synagogue praying from the siddur, taking out the Torah, and even reciting the priestly blessing (my son is a kohen). The girls’ video was intended to introduce the theme of Shabbat. So after viewing the boys in the synagogue praying from their new prayer books and reading the Torah, the girls were shown cooking and cleaning (and lighting candles) for Shabbat.

Another speaker referred to all the male dignitaries using first and last names, but first names only for female ones. Fortunately I was able to point this out to his wife, who was sitting in front of me.

And yes, there were plenty of younger siblings. My own 4-year-old was quite happy at home and she would never have sat still anyway. And yes, everyone had a camera, except for me, because my son had used up the battery at a school party the evening before. I asked Y if I should find someone to take a picture of us and he said no. So we went home.

Now we can rest for a while until their chumash party. . ., held around Shavuot when the children receive the book of Bereshit (Genesis). It won’t be as elaborate–one party is always a big production and the other is low-key.

And it’s a good thing I didn’t lay out the NIS 65.