Prom. 2013 Edition

 

Catching up where I've fallen behind on postings, brings us to....

 

Prom.

 

Darcie & Alyssa both were prom-goers this year, and as the mother, I probably should have anticipated that happening. However, their dates kind of delayed the "asking" moments, and since these two went on a trip to Disneyland (did I mention that??) two weeks before The Dance, we found ourselves scrambling for dresses for them.

 

I am so glad that we have modesty standards through our Church, that help me as a parent to guide my girls through these wild teenage years. What that means for prom dresses, is that our girls don't wear sleeveless, spaghetti-strap, strapless, halter, or one-shoulder gowns. And though they might have chosen a short dress instead of a long one, the short dresses are not mini-dresses, either, and long dresses don't have slits up the thigh.

 

So yes, their prom dresses have sleeves on them, and they're beautiful. You don't have to look like you're selling your body to have a gorgeous dress and a fun time at a high school prom. Personally, I do have one other little hangup -- which is that I prefer dresses that have the sleeves integrated into the design of the dress. Sure, you can "add sleeves" onto a strapless gown, but they can look like they were glued on as an afterthought. I like the dresses that have sleeves from the start. That's a personal preference, and my girls have kind of followed in my lead on this one.

 

Todd and I both feel strongly that people do judge you based on how you look -- no matter how much someone might say that they don't care what people think, or that's not the message that they're sending. What you wear tells a strong story about who you are, and we want to make sure our girls are telling the right story.

 

So, with shopping opportunities in our town being, ahh..... less than desirable, we had to go elsewhere. For us this year, that meant ordering dresses from the Internet. It feels a bit scary to be *that* close to our event date, and be waiting for dresses to arrive and praying that they will fit, AND....... in our particular case: that they will be long enough.

 

I have to hand it to our Internet sources: they came through with flying colors. Darcie's turquoise dress came from Totallymodest.com. The dress was in stock, they shipped from southern Utah, to us in northern Idaho, and the dress left on a Friday and arrived the following Monday. I was impressed!

 

Alyssa chose a black dress that was not in stock at Margene's Bridal in Boise, Idaho. (It wasn't at their other location either.) But, they were amazing to have it shipped from supplier in southern California to the Boise store, and they turned it on the same day to ship it to us..... and it was ordered on Monday and arrived here on Friday. The heart-pumping catch to all of this, was that the dance was on Saturday: so the dress arrived the day before Prom. It was a huge blessing that it FIT!!!

 

Both of these stores did fantastic for us, and I would recommend them to anyone. Please visit them, because their customer service is outstanding!

 

Ok. You want to see pictures, don't you.

But, of course!!

 

Here we go!.....

(Plus a few different ones, for those of you who've already seen some of these on Facebook.)

 

 

That's the whole group that they went with. I had to laugh at what one of the girls said as they were getting ready at our house. (This was before they met up with the couple in red.) She said, "We're a bruise. We're all in black and blue!" Good thing the red couple arrived to break things up a bit!

 

Pretty girls!!

 

 

Love my beautiful girls!!

 

So, Alyssa's date is a terrific young man that she has known since Joy School (preschool). He's also one of the most intelligent people -- of any age -- that I've met. It should have been no surprise that his creative prom-question came in a code, which had to be deciphered through some algebraic equations and a series of hints!!!

 

Yes, really! Alyssa receive his flowers/chocolate and code on the eve of leaving for Disneyland, so she texted me her coded answer to send back to him, while she was on the road. Yes, life is THAT busy. 

 

I am also glad to say that the kids went in a group -- which was one of our parental requirements for the evening. I think they really have a much better time when they have a group around them, and we find it's also safer for them. So here's Darcie, with one of their friends, getting the giggles before the pose:

 

 

Darcie's date was on the Disneyland Trip, so he popped the Prom Question while they were going through, "It's A Small World". (Darcie knew it was coming, too, so it wasn't a big surprise.)

 

The girls asked me to make their corsages again. It's a bloody task, but somehow I managed:

 

They also had a Young Women leader do their nails.... acrylics are a prom first for us. It does make for some interesting softball playing, when you suddenly have long nails with square tips on them. A few days after Prom, Alyssa gave up and trimmed back the acrylic nails so she could pitch. A girl's gotta do what's necessary! Darcie also ended up popping off the nails, but not before she got her fingers jammed in a steal-attempt tagout at home plate. Ahhh, the fun of femininity!

 

So, the day before Prom, Grandpa and Grandma wanted to come over to see the girls in their dresses. We had a few moments of modeling the dresses for them. So glad my girls aren't camera-shy:

 

Fun, fun, fun. I should have included here a picture of Emma -- who also dressed up in her Cinderella dress that evening. Too cute!

Genius Idea: Midnight Breakfast

So, I was talking about Prom at a softball game, with one of the parents, when they leaned over to me and said, "You know, Prom Night is the biggest night ever when girls lose their virginity." I told her I wasn't worried about it. [Internet sources say that it's about 27%. I bet that varies with the part of the country you're in.]

And it's not something I worry about. Firstly, because I know my daughters. I know where they stand on things, and what they stand for, and what they won't stand for. (Somebody right now is thinking, "Yeah, you *think*  you know, but you don't really know." Well, actually, yes. Yes I do.) I also know their dates -- I know one better than the other, but I know them. But above all, I also knew exactly what my daughters would be doing AFTER the Prom. Which is what really counts.

In the past, I've told Alyssa (the only one who could date before this school year) that she could/should invite her friends her to our house after the dance to play games/watch a movie/have snacks. And she's taken me up on that offer.

This time I told the girls to invite their friends over, and we'd do a full-on BREAKFAST at midnight or 1am-- whatever time it was. Plus games. There is an underlying strategy here.  For one thing, I like knowing where my kids are, and if they're here, then I know. I also would like them to feel comfortable having a group of friends over -- a feeling that I did not have as a teenager. I want their friends to think of our home as a fun place to be. I don't know if that's really what they think, but I like to delude myself.

I also FIRMLY believe that kids want to do stuff with their friends, AND...... if we as adults or parents or church leaders or communities do not provide something fun for them, then they will go out and find something on their own. And what that is may not necessarily be either good, or safe.  I think that it's is especially true on times like: Prom Night, Halloween, New Years, Last Day of School, Spring Breaks, etc.

Besides. Who could turn down the lure of BACON, right???

We gave the kids their choice on menus, offering stuffed French toast, loaded Belgian waffles (ice cream, strawberries, syrups, whipping cream), or a Train Wreck  -- which is adopted from camping and scouting days. You mix hash browns, eggs, sausage, onion, peppers, bacon, cheese -- everything you've got -- all together. It's pretty good. (The kids dump ketchup all over it.... whatever.)

They actually didn't have a big preference, but any options had to include bacon. Alyssa's date rarely eats bacon because his mom won't cook bacon indoors, .... so it was kind of a treat for him! And everybody wanted it. We ended up cooking the Train Wreck and Belgian waffles, and ....... Bacon!

And yes -- we were up pretty late that night. But it was totally worth it. I wish I'd grabbed pictures, but I think they were already at their photo limit. They changed out of their formal clothes, ate, played games, and wound down their evening. Some had to leave early because of curfews, which is fine. I was glad to do it (with PLENTY of help from Todd. He's the Waffle-Making Master)..... and I would do it again in a heartbeat. NO question!!