upsherin entertainment

Mommy007 ↓

Mon, Oct 12 2009, 3:51 pm

hi all! I am I"yh making my sons upsherin in december and I wanted to know if neone has numbers for entertainment. I heard the balloon rebbe or something...I was thinking of a blow up jumping thing but my husband thinks its too dangerous. someone mentioned uncle moishy to us be he is like a couple thousand dollars-no thanks!! ne ideas would be greatly appreciated--hopefully nothing too costly-dont have money to throw away suprisingly!!!! thanks so much!

mummiedearest ↓

Mon, Oct 12 2009, 8:15 pm

my son just had his upsherin recently. we cut the hair before company arrived, as we didn't want him to freak out. we didn't have hired entertainment. here's what happened.

my son refused to wear pants. he wore a yarmulka, shirt, and underwear. no shoes. he had a total meltdown in middle, there were too many people. someone gave him a train set, and he played with that and didn't let anyone come near it. my father had to take him on a walk to calm him down. my kid is actually a fairly sociable kid, but the whole crowd was too much for him. please remember that your child is three. he doesn't need the entertainment. take him to an uncle moishy concert when you have the chance instead, or buy an uncle moishy dvd to entertain the kids if you must have entertainment. many kids are scared of party entertainers.

bandcm ↓

Mon, Oct 12 2009, 8:22 pm

Mommy007 wrote:

Thre is absolutely no reason to have entertainment at an opsheren. Cutting the hair, socializing, and eating are enough for everyone (apart from Rothschild, and those who would like people to think they are Rothschild).

↑ ShakleeMom ↓

Mon, Oct 12 2009, 8:25 pm

bandcm wrote:

Hey, back up a second. Don't make blanket statements like that, it's not nice. Be a mentsh and say "I don't see why people would want that... " that's a bit more polite. In any case, people can do whatever they want, and OP just asked for ideas, not opinions.

↑ bandcm

Mon, Oct 12 2009, 8:29 pm

ShakleeMom wrote:

bandcm wrote:

OK, no problem, I'll be a mentsch:
I really don't see why people would want to hire entertainment for an opsherenish, especially as this is one of the few areas in the frum world where people have not yet started to try and upstage each other.
In this awful economy, why not go for a simple, fun party, no pressure, which everyone will enjoy just as much as a large splash, especially since you don't have money to throw away?
That was quite nice, I think.

↑ ShakleeMom ↓

Mon, Oct 12 2009, 8:31 pm

bandcm wrote:

ShakleeMom wrote:

bandcm wrote:

Now I can exhale. I'm just appalled at the last few threads that turned into a spit fight, when all someone asked was "child lost in BP" etc.

↑ manhattanmom ↓

Mon, Oct 12 2009, 9:01 pm

mummiedearest wrote:

manhattanmom wrote:

Wow, mummiedearest--you described it well!

Judging by how my 2 year old was this simchas torah, we're definitely going to have to keep his upsherin party to an absolute minimum!

and judging by the amount of hair he has, the upsherin won't take too long Twisted Evil

hee hee.

Yep. That too! We may just have to have a "yamulka and tzitzis party."

Quote:

I really don't see why people would want to hire entertainment for an opsherenish, especially as this is one of the few areas in the frum world where people have not yet started to try and upstage each other.

I beg to differ here. Just from this site, I've learned so many things about upsherins--like how to send fancy invitations, how to cater with hot food for close to 100 people. People comparing how much they cooked and all the fancy cakes they served. To me, it seems competitive. But maybe I'm the only one who feels this way....

wtvr

Mon, Oct 12 2009, 9:09 pm

I agree that there is no need for "entertainment" at an upsherin, but can understand that some feel that they need more than "just" hair-cutting.

Firstly, it depends on the age group of people that you will be there. How many children? How old? What is the purpose of the entertainment? Is it to make the party more "exciting"? or to keep the kids busy, so parents a can enjoy? (Questions to ask yourself) It also depends on your venue. What will you have room for?

-If you do buffet, assuming your serving some sort of food, and have it open during the hair cutting, that in itself is entertainment. People snip, and grab a bite, (or two!) and are not waiting around, and getting anxious.

- There are things that you can do that can "spice up" or add another dimension to the party, that don't cost a lot. Of course, it depends on your target crowd.

Some examples:
* A slide show or video of the upsherin boy, with a mitzvos theme, or s/t.

* You can do a craft or project for the kids, and have a teenager run it- (either a family member- neice, cousin, neighbor, or hire a high school girl, won't cost much) Seeing that yours is in December, maybe a Chanukah sand art, or wooden dreidel craft from Kosher Krafts.
This can also be instead of Pecklach, if you were planning on doing, but don't want to spend extra, as the kids still come home with something.

* Face Painting. I know a professional who charges (last I checked) $150/ hr. That's s/t, but not thousands. (But that won't keep everyone occupied so long, just till they get their turn)

* A musician, DJ, or even just loudspeaker with music can liven things up.

* You can try Small Wonder Puppet Theater http://www.smallwonderpuppets.com . Don't know what they cost, though.

Hope that helped!
Good Luck!

MiracleMama

Mon, Oct 12 2009, 9:10 pm

Mommy007, I don't think I can help you with specific #'s to call (you don't even say where you live) but I had entertainment at my son's upsherinish and I would be glad to share ideas with you if you PM me. I wont go into details here since so many ladies are so rude to criticize those who wish to celebrate differently then they do and think they can tell people what to spend or not spend their money on.

↑ manhattanmom ↓

Mon, Oct 12 2009, 9:23 pm

MiracleMama wrote:

If I had money to designate for a huge party, I'd put it away to add to whatever I want to do for his bar mitzvah because at least he'll remember it.

↑ ShakleeMom

Mon, Oct 12 2009, 9:31 pm

manhattanmom wrote:

MiracleMama wrote:

If I had money to designate for a huge party, I'd put it away to add to whatever I want to do for his bar mitzvah because at least he'll remember it.

My son remembers his upsherin.

↑ Mommy007

Tue, Oct 13 2009, 3:16 pm

wow I did not think my question would cause such a debate!

let me get things clear here...I am no rothchild, nor have I ever claimed to be. I live in an apartment so there is no room to have a party here. B'h we have a lot of family with a lot of kids so its k"nh a lot of people. When I say "entertainment" I dont know why some people took it so personally. B'h family alone plus some friends adds up to a lot of people-and I dont just want to put a whole bunch of people in a room to eat! We are cutting his hair the week before so we could take him to yeshiva so the cutting hair would not be something done at the actual party.

Trust me, this is not a party to end all parties and I am actually quite offfended by some of the remarks.

WTVR--maybe "entertainment" was not the right word and u explained it perfectly.

I am not looking to throw my money away-which I said right away-I was just looking for fun suggestions for the kids since it will be so many people--too many to do a project.

I do really appreciate all the suggestions.

↑ Inspired

Tue, Oct 13 2009, 3:49 pm

Mommy007 wrote:

We are cutting his hair the week before so we could take him to yeshiva so the cutting hair would not be something done at the actual party.

I have never heard of anyone doing that. We take our sons to cheder on their birthday with long hair, and many others do as well. Why would you want to do the upsherin without anyone? I'm confused.

Raisin

Tue, Oct 13 2009, 3:58 pm

there are plenty of entertainment ideas you can do which cost very little. Buy some markers and put out coloring sheets, put these on a table. Find some sort of art and craft which needs very little adult supervision. eg decorating plastic cups or something with permenant markers. Get a teenager to play party games with the kids - pass the parcel, treasure hunt etc

blow up bouncy castles are not tremendously expensive. we have hired them dozens of times for events and never had any incidents.

having said that we had no entertainment for the kids at our ds's upserins they had a good time. Even though there were a lot of people and kids there. I did party bags and they were very excited over the cake.

Isramom8

Tue, Oct 13 2009, 4:04 pm

When there is no entertainment, but there are men, they sing, and that's the best! That is what will happen at our son's bar mitzvah this year IY"H because it falls during sefiras haomer. The ladies will shmooze and there will be no loud band to compete with the conversation.

Upsherin, whether fancy food or plain, small or big, should be informal in my opinion. Just gathering together to honor another Jewish baby as he starts down the road to Jewish boyhood. He gets his payos and kippa and tzitzis, but he doesn't get these things alone; he is part of the whole group of us and all the generations that lived before and will exist after.

Mazal tov!