School Dance

Tonight the kids had their first school dance. I knew it was coming up, but couldn't remember when or what time. I've been so absent-minded lately! Anyway, they got home from school this afternoon, and both of them were talking at the same time telling me the school dance was tonight and asking if they could go. J. said "it's at 8:00 Mommy!" A. said, "no, it's at 5:00." So I told them to give me a chance to find out exactly what was going on and then we'd talk about it.

So I went to pick up the phone and call the school, but decided to check their website first. Sure enough under PTA news was the information I wanted. The kids were both right. Well, sort of. The school they go to is grades K-5. Grades K-2 went from 5-6, and grades 3-5 went from 6:30-8. J. was confusing the end time with the start time. The best part, for the kids anyway, was that they got to wear their Halloween costumes.

So I let the kids know the real deal and let them know they would definitely be able to go, and that they could wear their costumes. They wanted to put them on right away! I told them they needed to wait. When the time came I helped A. get ready. She was a ballroom princess. That's my girl. Every year, when I ask her what she wants to be for Halloween (Angie D., you'll appreciate this), it's always a princess of some kind. This year, a ballroom princess. Last year she was Cinderella. The year before, when P. was in Iraq, she was a sparkly butterfly (close enough). She is such a girl! When I looked at her costume, I noticed that it had four little Velcro closures down the back. Not wanting to take the chance of it coming open, I told her to go get her dance clothes on to wear under it. When I asked her how she wanted to wear her hair, she told me at first she wanted to leave it like it was for school today (she wore it in pigtails, or "dog-ears" as we call it). But then I asked her if she wanted it in a bun like she wears for dance, and she said, "oh yes, that will be perfect!" I think that's one of her favorite things about dance class...she has to wear her hair in a bun. So we finished getting her ready and called J. down before we left (he said he really wanted to see her in her costume). Then I took her to her dance.

My little ballroom princess...

When I called J. down before we left, he very dramatically fell on the floor when he got to the bottom of the stairs. So I told P., "look, he thinks she's a knockout!" I had to snap a picture...

I came home and started getting J.'s costume ready. We found a Darth Vader costume at Walmart several weeks ago that he loved right away. I had to make sure it had batteries in it. It's a really need costume. It is padded so it looks like the actual Darth Vader from the movie. The chest of the costume has fiber optic lights with a battery pack that you turn on and off. It also came with a light saber that works. Now J. has two light sabers...he got one for Christmas a couple of years ago. I think he has both colors now. Anyway, so I made sure that everything was ready to go with his costume and then it was time to go get A. So I left P. with instructions to get J. dressed for his dance and went to get her.

My little drama queen had a meltdown. We don't have them very often anymore. We used to have a meltdown over one thing or another at least daily, sometimes two or three times a day. Now they're fewer and farther between, but they still definitely occur at inconvenient times. The short of it is that she didn't get any food (ok, I made sure she ate dinner BEFORE the dance and she could have a snack when she got home), she didn't have fun because she didn't dance very much (well, whose fault is that really) and not many of her friends were there, and the ones that were didn't dance (maybe she needs some more friends).

So we get home and J. is almost ready to go. He is so excited. He about had a fit when Daddy turned his fiber optic chest on. Then P. found a little D ring to clip to his belt to hold his light saber. We told him to leave it clipped to his belt. You never know with schools what kind of things would be considered a weapon and we didn't want him to get in trouble. So off to the dance we went.

My Darth Vader...

J.'s dance lasted an hour and a half, so I was able to relax some before I went to get him. When I picked him up, he was in a great mood. He had a great time, said he danced, and had a ring pop he was sucking on, and a glow necklace around his neck. I was glad at least one of them had a good time.

We got home and A. had a meltdown all over again. J. got treats and she didn't. UGH!! I told her, yeah, well, he doesn't get to have any candy from his bucket. A friend of the family gave each of the kids a little trick-or-treat bucket with quite a bit of candy inside last weekend. Since she didn't get anything at the dance, I let her have some candy from her bucket when she got home. It's amazing to me how different they are, and how like us they are in different ways. J. is completely relaxed in social situations, and he totally gets that from his dad. This might surprise those of you who know me, but I honestly am an introvert. I've just learned to enjoy things that I'm not naturally comfortable with. A. is a bit more challenged when it comes to things like group events. She loves her friends, but definitely tends to stick with one or two people she knows while J. will float around the room and talk to everybody. That is very much like P. and myself. When we go to unit functions or other social events, he is the one that goes around and talks to everybody while I am more comfortable sitting at our table or just trailing along behind him. Once I make a couple of friends I'm much more comfortable.

Anyway, even with the four trips I made to the school this evening taking the kids to the dance and picking them up, I think it was worth it. J. had a good time. Although A. said she didn't maybe she learned a little something about how to have more fun the next time...that is IF I let her go the next time since she gave me such an attitude for the rest of the night. I enjoyed getting them ready and taking them to their first school dance. I just can't believe they're growing up so fast.