A Tale of Two Dances

Joseph and Marley Prom 2014

Joe and his girlfriend are spur of the moment type of people.  They make most of their plans at the last minute and are quick to change their minds about what to do.  Last year, we discovered one week before prom that they wanted to attend.  This year went a little smoother.  They decided more than one month in advance that they wanted to go to prom.  I envisioned a mellow afternoon of Joe getting ready followed by a relaxed photo session with me before they took off.

 

 Plans for me changed quickly when I learned that the homeschool group would be holding their first dance called the Spring Fling on the same date.  I had volunteered to throw some parties for the homeschool group with another homeschool mom.  (She calls us the Party Moms.)  I also realized that Paige had two dance classes in the morning.  My leisurely day quickly changed.

Madelyn and Cody Spring Fling 2014

The shoes didn't stay on Madelyn's feet long.  She's not a high heel girl.

There was some squabbling for bathroom time, but overall it went pretty smoothly.  Joe and Marley left fairly early, so I had an hour to curl Madelyn's hair after taking photos of the prom attendees.

Madelyn and Cody stood around for photos and then left for the dance.  I realized that Madelyn had forgotten her snack to share and canned good for the canned-good donation, so I loaded that into the SUV and drove to the dance to chaperone.

I'm not going to comment to much about the dance, because it was Madelyn's night and her mom shouldn't share her observations.  I did think it went well and 95 percent of the kids looked like that had a good time.  The few who were bored, refused to participate, so there was nothing anyone could have done to make it a better experience.

After the Spring Fling, most of the teens went laser bowling.  It was a good ending to the night and let them mix together a little bit more.

Prom

My youngest son's girlfriend is a year older than he.  Marley is a lovely girl who runs cross country and track and is a little bit shy.  In other words, she's a lot like Joe.  A few months ago, Joe asked her if she wanted to go to prom.  Because she's a junior, they could both attend prom.  Marley said that she had no desire to go to prom.  Marley is a little indecisive, so Joe asked her again 6 weeks ago and a month ago.  She declined.  Three weeks ago, Joe asked her again and said that this was the last time he was going to ask her.  She declined.

Eight days before prom, Joe received a phone call from Marley.  She had changed her mind and wanted to go to prom.  The last day to purchase tickets was the following day.  Joe entered the family room with the phone in his hand and told me that Marley wanted to attend prom.  I was floored. 

We're in our final push to finish the project house and move.  We need to come up with over $600 for cheer leading by the end of the month.  We only have one car.  My mind was spinning as I thought and stated all the expenses:  tux rental, flowers, tickets, dinner, transportation.  I looked at my son and said in an exasperated tone, "I hate Marley.  How could she do this to me?"

Joe looked at me with terror in his eyes and made frantic motions with his hands.  Marley was still on the phone!


As soon as I realized that she quite possibly overheard my remarks, I asked Joe to tell Marley that I don't hate her, but she has thrown me for a loop.  Marley mentioned that she KNEW that she had changed her mind very late.  Her parents had told her that Joe had every right to NOT take her to the prom.  Before she called, her parents had said that they would pay for the tickets (which included dinner) and would provide transportation to and from the prom.

Marley laughed at my comment and wasn't upset at all.  She told Joe that he should give both his parents a hug when he got off the phone.  She also said that if he had a suit, he could wear that instead of renting a tux.  Unfortunately, Joe doesn't currently own a suit.

We priced tux rental and decided that it would make more sense to purchase Joe a suit.  Mike headed off to Kohl's the following day and didn't find any suits in Joe's size that weren't more that $300, which we felt was too much to spend since he's still growing.  Mike's next stop was at J. C, Penney, where the clearance rack contained a tux in Joe's size for $5.00.  It was missing one button.  We purchased buttons for $1.75.  My 16-year old son owns his very first tux!  What a great deal!

Marley's mom ordered two dresses for her to try last Saturday.  By Thursday, they still hadn't arrived.  When I asked Joe about her dress, he said that he wasn't going to worry about it.  She would pull together something before Saturday.


The prom was Saturday and the happy couple looked so sweet.  Marley's dress arrived on Friday.  The weather was quite nippy, but they had a good time.

 

Prom

My "baby" went off to prom a short time ago. We had a lot of fun selecting her dress. Amy helped Katie with her hair. This morning was spent running errands, while this afternoon went smoothly and was stress-free. Katie had time to do yoga and get a massage from Joe.