prom season will soon be upon us!
(cross posted at Midcentury Modern Moms)
Prom season -- that trulywonderful and exciting dramatic and terrifying time of the year.
If you've been reading my blog you've seen me post about prom season before.
I never went to my high school prom. I didn't have a lot of friends in my class, and my boyfriend at the time had very little money. It didn't make sense for us to spend all that money, so we wound up going to the movies instead.
Not so with my daughters. I have been living the "prom drama" life for 4 years now. I've got the gray hairs to prove it!
The dress...the shoes...the hair and makeup...do you know that there's actually a magazine called Your Prom that gives fashion tips? Limo or party bus? What after-prom activites -- a party at someone's house, a trip into NYC for a show at a comedy club? Just the planning alone can cause gray hair for the parents.
Our school's prom is for members of the senior class and their invited guests. Prom is held the same weekend as graduation, the kids have their last hurrah on Friday and then graduate on Sunday. It's supposed to cut down on a lot of afterprom excesses...."supposed to" being the operative words.
The school has very strict rules, all seniors and any other student from our school who will be attending prom must come to the anti-drugs and alcohol lecture, and the student must bring a parent. Parents must sign permission slips for their child to attend prom. I don't know how much this helps...
When Jen was a junior, her core group of friends were seniors. She went to the prom with her best friend, who wwanted to be more than just "friends'; he had a major crush on Jen. Unrequited love=major teenage drama.
But that was nothing compared to the drama form Jen's senior year. I did NOT like the boy who asked her to the prom -- what do you think of a young man who says to a girl "I"m going to ask you to prom as soon as I dump my girlfriend"? Yes, he really said that to Jen. And Jen went out with him anyway -- they dated for several months and broke up just a few weeks before prom. They decided to go together "as friends". Bad mistake. They did the pre-prom photos at his friends' house, took a party bus with his friends, planned to go to an after-prom with his friends. But from the moment they arrived at the prom itself, the young man opted to pretend Jen didn't exist. She wound up hanging out with her two best friends since kindergarten, went to after-prom in their limo -- and I think she had a better time that way.
Believe it or not, Jen had prom drama last year, too. How does a college freshman find prom drama? By dating a boy who is a year younger than she is, of course. And of course, they broke up just before prom. Right after she bought that non-refundable prom dress in the outlet center ($450 dress for $100, but where will she wear it?) Not to mention, she paid for her own prom ticket, and he never gave her back the money. Lesson learned, I think. Or perhaps not....
Becca entered "prom world" last year, relatively free of drama. She attended two proms, actually. First there was a junior prom at another school with a boy she was dating. .... though that fizzled out right after prom. And she went to our school's prom with a friend -- Becca's prom date was a friend of the boy Jen was dating last year. After-prom was a party at someone's house, not very adventurous (thank goodness!)
But this year Becca is a senior, it's her prom she's planning.
The gray hairs are starting to sprout already, and prom isn't until the end of June.
It seems Becca's core group of friends wants to rent a beach house for their after-prom. There are about 40 kids involved, they want to go to the beach house after the prom Friday night and stay until early Sunday morning. "Mom, nothing is going to happen ....these are all the 'goody-two-shoes' kids in the class...don't worry"
Famous last words.
I think I'm going to need a valium to get through this year's prom season.....
Prom season -- that truly
If you've been reading my blog you've seen me post about prom season before.
I never went to my high school prom. I didn't have a lot of friends in my class, and my boyfriend at the time had very little money. It didn't make sense for us to spend all that money, so we wound up going to the movies instead.
Not so with my daughters. I have been living the "prom drama" life for 4 years now. I've got the gray hairs to prove it!
The dress...the shoes...the hair and makeup...do you know that there's actually a magazine called Your Prom that gives fashion tips? Limo or party bus? What after-prom activites -- a party at someone's house, a trip into NYC for a show at a comedy club? Just the planning alone can cause gray hair for the parents.
Our school's prom is for members of the senior class and their invited guests. Prom is held the same weekend as graduation, the kids have their last hurrah on Friday and then graduate on Sunday. It's supposed to cut down on a lot of afterprom excesses...."supposed to" being the operative words.
The school has very strict rules, all seniors and any other student from our school who will be attending prom must come to the anti-drugs and alcohol lecture, and the student must bring a parent. Parents must sign permission slips for their child to attend prom. I don't know how much this helps...
When Jen was a junior, her core group of friends were seniors. She went to the prom with her best friend, who wwanted to be more than just "friends'; he had a major crush on Jen. Unrequited love=major teenage drama.
But that was nothing compared to the drama form Jen's senior year. I did NOT like the boy who asked her to the prom -- what do you think of a young man who says to a girl "I"m going to ask you to prom as soon as I dump my girlfriend"? Yes, he really said that to Jen. And Jen went out with him anyway -- they dated for several months and broke up just a few weeks before prom. They decided to go together "as friends". Bad mistake. They did the pre-prom photos at his friends' house, took a party bus with his friends, planned to go to an after-prom with his friends. But from the moment they arrived at the prom itself, the young man opted to pretend Jen didn't exist. She wound up hanging out with her two best friends since kindergarten, went to after-prom in their limo -- and I think she had a better time that way.
Believe it or not, Jen had prom drama last year, too. How does a college freshman find prom drama? By dating a boy who is a year younger than she is, of course. And of course, they broke up just before prom. Right after she bought that non-refundable prom dress in the outlet center ($450 dress for $100, but where will she wear it?) Not to mention, she paid for her own prom ticket, and he never gave her back the money. Lesson learned, I think. Or perhaps not....
Becca entered "prom world" last year, relatively free of drama. She attended two proms, actually. First there was a junior prom at another school with a boy she was dating. .... though that fizzled out right after prom. And she went to our school's prom with a friend -- Becca's prom date was a friend of the boy Jen was dating last year. After-prom was a party at someone's house, not very adventurous (thank goodness!)
But this year Becca is a senior, it's her prom she's planning.
The gray hairs are starting to sprout already, and prom isn't until the end of June.
It seems Becca's core group of friends wants to rent a beach house for their after-prom. There are about 40 kids involved, they want to go to the beach house after the prom Friday night and stay until early Sunday morning. "Mom, nothing is going to happen ....these are all the 'goody-two-shoes' kids in the class...don't worry"
Famous last words.
I think I'm going to need a valium to get through this year's prom season.....
You are scaring me-or making me very happy that one won't have a prom. I think two is cruel and unusual punishment for parents!
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