At Wednesday night’s seder, Teen Spirit was upset that we were using a new Hagadah. "What, we’re not using the one we always use?" he shouted out looking quite alarmed. "But it’s a tradition!"

"Tradition. Tradition!"  Someone started singing the song from "Fidler on the Roof." I probably should have consulted Teen Spirit. But honestly, I didn’t think he’d be disturbed by the change.  Secretly, I was pleased that the old book, "The Four Questions," meant so much to him.

A decision was made to alternate between "The Four Questions" by Lynn Sharon Schwartz and the Hagadah.

That worked fairly well. But at a few points, it did get confusing and repetitive. I’m pretty sure we did the plagues and the "This is the bread of affliction part" twice. My father accidentally turned the pages of the children’s book Hebrew style — going backwards.

"You’re going the wrong way," someone shouted out as if he were a car that had turned onto a one-way-street. "Go back!"

That explained some of the repetition and added to the general chaos. 20-month old Ducky had a hard time sitting still. She kept getting up off Diaper Diva’s lap and running into OSFO’s room. MiMa Cat, my stepmother, was up and down for cigarette breaks in the hallway and Mrs. Kravitz, my friend and downstair’s neighbor came up for a visit.

We took a break mid-seder for a brief piano recital by OSFO and then got back to the reading. When we got to the end, it was time for matzoh ball soup and gefilte fish. We were off and running…

The meal was, as usual, very filling. The menu: brisket, a Sephardic spinach, matzah and noodle kugel, beet salad. For dessert: Chocolate macaroons, middle-eastern pastries from a bakery in Bay Ridge. Throughout: Lots of wine.

At 9 p.m, Groovy Grandpa looked at his watch. "Omigod, omigod," he said. "We missed American Idol." Surprisingly, the man is hopelessly in love with the show. "I can’t stand it," Mima Cat said scowling. "Your father is turning into such a couch potato."

OSFO turned on the television and the show was still on. Relief. In a post-seder stupor, everyone sat in the living room and watched as Eliot, Ace, and Ducky, were revealed to be the night’s bottom three. Ooooh. Suspense.

Finally, it was Bucky who had to go.

"Bucky?" Teen Spirit shouted out incredulously from another room. He’s been nominally following the show but he liked the modest southern rocker. All of us did. The remaining contestants gathered around the tall, handsome fellow with the buck teeth and the long, blonde hair. Some cried; the bald guy gave him a manly hug.

After the show, a quick hunt for the afakomen (the hidden matzah), which OSFO found and took the prize: a small plastic bag full of Swedish Fish. Then the guests made a dash for the door. 

Next year, we’re using "The Four Questions." It’s a damn good Hagadah and a tradition around here. A tradition.