Rosh Hashanah is knocking on the door and August isn’t even done. School starts next week for one child and (bizarrely) on Erev Rosh Hashanah for the other. And in six weeks. SIX WEEKS! We will be celebrating my son’s barmitzvah.
I have honey cakes to bake; a tonne of recipes to share with you all; school uniform to buy which annoyingly cannot be clicked and collected (for some pandemic-related pretension) and a to-do list longer than a Covid vaccination queue.
Kippot; menus; marquee decoration; personalised magazine; invitations; floral decorations; balloons and that’s before you even get to what we’re actually going to wear on the day. Thank goodness the bar mitzvah boy has his side of things covered. Well, not the outfit. If he had his way he’d do the day in trackies.
I’ve only had 13 years to plan this and it's not like we didn't know it was coming; but the tiny matter of a world pandemic, gave us an excuse to let things slide a little. Who knew what we'd be able to do by October 2021? And now we have a plan that can be rejigged if the numbers were restricted again.
To be honest though, my parents would be the first to tell you that Mr P and I are the sort of people who’d be running around like headless chickens at this point, coronavirus or not.
So we opted for a marquee in our garden, giving us time to space out the celebrations into smaller groups. Lunch for the older relatives after shul and, the next day, a series of small get-togethers with pizza, games and ice cream. That’s the plan anyway. And it suits our dance-averse son perfectly as well as being more in keeping for what is essentially a 13th birthday party.
There’s a lot to do before it comes together and it’s a pain having to do it all ourselves, but I’m glad we didn’t go for a hotel or restaurant. Friends have seen their booking vanish as venues fell as a result of the long lockdowns. One family booked a hotel venue pre-pandemic only to find out that is has become a centre for people returning from abroad to see out their quarantine. The hotel can now only confirm the party a few weeks ahead!
I still have not organised all the food – which will soon be giving me sleepless nights. Until now it had been the guest list, which we’ve kept really tight. We’re not really ready for huge crowds – it's too soon.
So, right now, when I really should be ordering sweets/sourcing an ice cream van/hunting for the right kippot I’m off-loading instead.
Before all of that, I need to think how we will celebrate Rosh Hashanah this year. Oh, and there's also a party to be held for my daughter's 11th birthday - two weeks before the barmitzvah!
At least I'm able to plan all these parties and celebrations. There’s a whole other post to be written about the joy of sharing the chagim – not to mention air space – with our family and friends this year.
