The Dress

I'm just back from a beach vacation which I throughly enjoyed. Whenever I take a beach vacation I like to take a book to read on the beach. Usually something light and easy to get through quickly. Anyway it turns out that in the book I chose there is an upcoming Bat Mitzvah. The mom and daughter have very different ideas about what they want from this special occasion. The mom wants a low key meaningful experience and the daughter wants all the bells and whistles. The mom is conservative and still thinks of her daughter as her baby and the daughter feels that becoming a Bat Mitzvah means she is becoming a young adult. Which is hard to argue with since that is what becoming a Bat Mitzvah is about.
So where do you draw the line? I personally feel that you need to let your daughter have some input regarding the party. Of course this does not mean that she should be wearing a dress that is inappropriate or that you have to blow your budget not only for the Bat Mitzvah but for the whole year. As much as it is difficult to see our children growing up it is part of the process so you need to find a happy medium. Your daughter does not need to look like a sex goddess she should feel like a teen princess. This is after all her special day and you want her to shine not only through the service but at her celebration. So just think back to when you were her age and whether or not you were being Bat Mitzvahed remember the aches and pains of growing up. It wasn't easy then but it truly wasn't as hard as now.