His initial homework assignment was to watch the Karate Kid, which he did. Once he understood the underlying reason, I had carte blanche to get him mentally ready.
"Look," I instructed as he waxed the door, "90% of the Bar Mitzvah is mental. You'll know everything that you have to do. You just need to stay focused and not let the distraction get to you."
Periodically, I would call out, "how is it going?"
If he answered me, I'd say, "YOU ARE LOSING YOUR CONCENTRATION! MORE WAXING!"
Eventually, he got it and he became one with the car, maintaining the Zen-like state he will need to perform at his peak.
I called his father and together we documented the scene. I turned to him, "you know, I am a big believer in the notion of 'there's nothing new under the sun', but I daresay that in the history of preparing a boy for his Bar Mitzvah, no other tutor has ever made his student wax his car."
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