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West Bloomfield • On the Boardwalk • Orchard Lake Rd.
Just South of Maple • 626-3362
Mon.-Weds. & Sat. 10-7; Thurs. & Fri. 10-9; Sun. 12-5
CANNON) 12, 21 WCH
18,1994
OCT
SPECIAL 'GET-TO-
LIKE-YOURSELF -
AGAIN ' PROGRAM
) 3SPA 1 SPORT SERVICES
) $90 ALLOWANCE TOWARD
HEALTH & HEALING
SERVICES
LIMITED SPACE AVAILABLE
HERE TODAY. IT COULD BE GONE
TOMORROW
Executive Custom
Shirtmakers & Tailors, Inc
223 S. Woodward Av.
Just S. of the
Birmingham Theatre
CALL 358 -5330
CADILLAC TRAVEL
(810) 642-0460
THE DETRO IT J EWIS H NEWS
—I Your ISRAEL Travel Specialist ;—
TheCruise & Vacation Shoppe of
eSUNLMIT 11:2AVEL
Hours: 9AM-5:30PM Sat 10.30A/1f-2:00PM
489-5888
•
American Heart Association
WE'RE FIGHTING FOR YOUR LIFE
We're Leaving
But Don't Tell
ERICA MEYER RAUZM SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
T
he last time I traveled with
my children, I made a seri-
ous mistake: I told them
about it in advance.
In the future, I'm not going to
mention any trip to them until
a half hour before the plane de-
parts. I suspect this will lead me
to extreme measures, such as
packing in a dark bedroom while
a child is sleeping, but it will be
worth it.
So what if I don't find out that
my child's swimsuit doesn't fit
until we're already on some small
island, at least I will have had
some peace at home.
I told my middle daughter
about our last vacation a month
in advance. I knew she'd be ex-
cited; we were returning to a
place she'd loved the year before.
I didn't know that she would hug
me, kiss me, shout her delight,
and immediately go upstairs and
pack.
Which she did.
The better part of her
wardrobe disappeared into the
old blue suitcase that day and
didn't emerge until we reached
our destination —four and a half
weeks later.
For a month, she had nothing
to wear. Her suitcase was sacro-
sanct, untouchable, unchange-
able. "Those are my vacation
clothes, Mommy," she'd explain
patiently; "I can't wear them
here. I'll use them up."
I ended up laundering the en-
tire contents of her suitcase late
during the night before our de-
parture because the clothes were
wrinkled and just a shade musty
from being in hibernation for a
month.
I didn't feel like I had much
choice. I didn't want to walk
around Vacationland with some-
one who looked like a little, bitty
bag lady.
The other reason for not in-
forming my kids about upcoming
travel is that they worry like old
yentas: "Where will we sleep?
Will you and Daddy take the only
room with air-conditioning like
last year? (You bet.) Where will
we spend Sabbath?" They bring
up every disaster that ever oc-
curred on any of our vacations
and replay them with speculative
comments about the likelihood of
such interesting awful things
ever happening again.
For instance, I find the kosher
meals served on airplanes prac-
tically impossible to open. They
are vacuum packed, super sealed,
ready to stay preserved forever.
The last time I
traveled with my
children, I made a
serious mistake: I
told them about it in
advance.
They are built to last through the
vicissitudes of time, travel and
intense microwave. They reach
the customer burning hot and
still sealed tightly enough to sur-
vive a century in a time capsule.
Ladylike tugging at the plastic
seams gets you nowhere.
Well, last year I (accidentally)
flung an entree (still sealed, for-
tunately) across the aisle as I
wrestled with the diabolical
wrappings. The woman sitting in
the line of trajectory neatly
blocked the flying brisket with
her paperback book. My kids