Many may recall last year’s services featured Rose, the recalcitrant whiner. It made me absolutely insane when she refused to stand. For those unfamiliar with Jewish services, they involve a lot of standing up and sitting down—the standing up part for the big important stuff. Not that I’ve had long conversations with my daughter about showing respect for the rabbi, the torah, or major prayers, I just wanted her to do it.

This year, she’s had a year of Sunday school, and I did a better job prepping. We pulled her from school at lunch, so we had a good three hours of transition time before services. I also flat out told her she needed to stand when the rabbi asked us to, or she could leave services.

We had a delightful time.

Our synagogue is humungous, unwieldingly so, but Rose and I now know enough people to get a lot of those big “Hello! It’s great to see you!” hugs. I passed it on by admiring several babies I didn’t know and chatting with the tween sitting next to me.

Rose can’t read. (I know, seven days of kindergarten and no progress!) So, following the service involves a lot of telling her what page we are on. It’s not quite as cozy as tot Shabbat, but I still find the messages powerful.

You know services are working when you start balling during the rabbi’s story—thanks to the shofar, the princess and king found each other again, and they all lived happily ever after.

After services, Rose and I went to the park next door where she had a blast playing with friends she hasn’t seen in a while, and I had a blast talking to their parents.

A good year, a year of peace.