After three plus weeks of fuss and planning, tonight is the night. The prom has finally arrived. We’ve had dress drama and date drama and all sorts of drama in between. I’ve got the alterations made and today is dedicated to pedicures and manicures and hair dos. Somehow, our house has become the “staging area” and I will not be the only parent sitting here tonight with camera and hair spray in hand. Would it be cold-hearted and un-motherly of me to admit that I’m looking forward to having this year’s prom be over?
I really can’t complain–my daughter has been pretty level-headed and grounded about this whole Junior-Senior prom thing. I have not had to spend an arm and a leg and she has made most of the plans herself. And, I know it has taken a bit of organization on her part to keep all of her “group” in line and focused on the task at hand (that task being to accomplish prom 2007). I’m preparing myself for the onslaught that is to come in a few hours–the make-up and shoes and hair accoutrements and other glamorous paraphernalia. It doesn’t seem like very many years ago I was dressing for my own prom in a green satin dress with puffy sleeves that my mother altered for me. My daughter is going with a much more grown-up, black, halter cocktail-type dress with a matching black shawl to drape over her shoulders. Being a tall girl, I think I wore the flats to my prom–while my daughter being on the shorter side is going with a stylish sandal with a 2 inch heel. Still, being ever-so-practical, these are shoes she says she can “actually walk in.”
Each step comes and goes in this process of growing up, I know that part of me longs to cling to them and savor them, knowing full well that we are getting closer and closer to launching day and being done. But another part of me gets a little weary of all the fuss and pomp and circumstance. This particular prom has felt like it was a long time coming!
See Also: The Prom–Part Two–The Date Changed