Milestones

Yesterday was Ben's official first dance. One of the coming-of-age events in a Jewish child's life is the arrival of Joe Cornell in his or her life. No-Joe is not a friend or a neighbor; it is a company that teaches pre-Bar and Bat Mitzvah children how to socially mingle and dance with the opposite sex. To sell this 12 week program to in-coming 6th graders JC hosts a big dance.

So it was with a heavy heart-from me and a nervous swagger from my 10 year old that we arrived at the dance. As the children walked in with their parents, I watched Ben scanning the room for a friendly face, or just a mere smile of a friend. Relief washed over his face when his good buddy Max walked in the door. With the arrival of his good buddy, his confidence returned and within a minute he gave us a hasty goodbye and walked into the dance.

We went home and started baking Thanksgiving pies. The time went by fast and soon we made the return trip to pick him up. My son walked out tired from all the dancing loaded with prizes and a smile on his face. No-there was no slow dancing but they all danced in a big group. It wasn't too boring. They learned the Zombie dance from Michael Jackson. It was okay ...

Sigh.... milestones!