Proms and Dances | Pad Patter 5/19

This year's prom went very smoothly and wasn't too stressful... except for my son telling me about 3 weeks before prom that he wanted a tux (after telling us up until that point that his suit would be fine). That was a little stressful because we didn't even have a free night to go get the tux and felt like we were way behind on that tasks once he told us. Boys!

Last year's prom was SUPER stressful though because my son was a junior and wanted to go, but then with Covid we didn't know if it was even happening or not. Then the school decided to do a prom on the football field outside and then we had to figure out how to do pictures without gathering too many kids at once. My son is painfully embarassed to talk to his parents in front of people, so I was really worried he wouldn't even tell me where pictures were going to be and I'd miss out, so I suggested that he could have his friends over to our house before prom. We live a block away from the school, so thankfully his friends were all about that and I got lots of pictures, but then they all wanted to come to our house after prom because the school wasn't doing anything for "after prom party" like they used to do. Then I was all stressed out about them staying up super late and having too many kids over and being a super-spreader event or something. Eeek! Darn Covid stuff. Then on top of that we had to go shopping for a suit because he grew out of his old one and he HATES shopping, but we ended up getting a nice deal on a suit at the first store we went to and it all worked out. And the kids all had a blast and especially enjoyed being together because of all the separation they had due to Covid before that, so it was great in the end. Phew!

Also... I totally forgot to get my son a boutonniere this year, but since he didn't have a date and went with a group it didn't seem to matter. There were other singles there that didn't have them, so he didn't stick out. But I totally get all the details that seem to creep up and make it stressful! Bonus is that you'll have great pictures to scrap after you survive it all!

 

My youngest grandchild, Chase (16, high school junior) didn't want to go to prom this year. Apparently none of his friends were going. He says he'll go next year, but we'll see.

His older brother didn't go to prom as a junior either, but went as a senior. He invited one girl, she accepted, but then changed her mind, so Will went with another gal. One of the other moms set everything up ... pre-prom pictures at a local garden, rented a van for the 7 couples to travel in (driven by her 21 y.o. college kid), reservations at a restaurant which was great. Except Will was AWFUL about getting the info to me.

There was a misty rain falling during the photo session, but I got some nice photos, including this one that is probably my all time fav photo of Will ...




My granddaughter went with her boyfriend both years. We had fun choosing her dress and getting her hair done. Since it was just the two of them pre-prom photos were easy-peasy. We choose the same garden for photos, met up with her boyfriend and his parents and took a zillion photos. Then they hopped in his car and went out to dinner before going to the prom.

Gotta check those phones, lol!!!



Woah, those photos are big!

 

The prom here is for seniors only because our graduating classes are huge (500+). My son is going with a small group of friends, mostly females. He decided just to wear a suit, so that part was easy. I never even thought about a boutonniere, so I'll have to check with him tonight. I'm guessing he won't want one. He and his friends are meeting there. I tried to convince him to get together first for dinner and pictures, but he's not interested (or at least isn't interested in being the one to organize things). I'm just thankful he's actually going to prom! I'll take pictures of him, and he's already let me know that I'm only getting a few minutes in our yard. I'm still working on getting him to take some photos of his friends while he's at the dance. I don't think he has any photos of most of his friends, and I think he'll regret not having them when HS ends in a few weeks. (He's always been a homebody who rarely went out with his friends, but the pandemic changed that from "rarely" to "never." Because of that even I don't have any pictures of them together. I can't count on getting them at graduation either because there will be so many people and they may not have a chance to find each other afterward.)

This is exactly how my son is. He has never wanted to go to a dance or anything else. He's a senior this year, and I was shocked when he told us he wanted to go to the prom!

 

One of my nephew's good friends is living with him to finish out senior year as the friends' family recently moved out-of-state so both went to Prom recently. Both boys let my sister take photos of them dressed up at the house and then went their separate ways. My nephew has a brand-new girlfriend but didn't have her meet my sister & BIL; I think they went alone to Prom. My nephew's friend is a real character, and he went with a huge group of friends. He also ran a secret blackjack game under the bleachers where he won a watch, some amusement park passes, money, etc.

I don't see my oldest [C] attending any middle or high school dances. They don't like to dress up or dance or have attention drawn to themselves, and they would not want to wear a dress or go/dance with any boys. I will hope for the best for Prom but we'll just wait & see. My BF's oldest, M, is the same age, and I'm sure she will attend at least one Prom and do all the dressing up and photo-taking.

 

I'm hoping! I don't know any of the teachers (who I assume are the chaperones), but I'm holding out hope that some of his friends will want to take pictures and share them.

 

I went through long seasons of prom years ago when my oldest were teens. I think there was about 5 or 6 years straight between the two of them. It's exhausting.
We're gearing up for prom Saturday night. Chance is going with friends, no date, which has made it a lot easier. I'm actually really surprised he is going at all. It's just not his thing, but I guess his friends talked him into it. He's not doing a full tux. He is really into Hawaiian shirts these days, so we found a cool Hawaiian vest and bow tie on Etsy, got some black dress pants, white shirt, and Hawaiian socks. I think he's even planning to wear his Birkenstock sandals and a hat with a Hawaiian brim. The hardest part for me this year is the fact that it's all 45 minutes or so from home and he doesn't drive lol. I'll be taking him to meet them for dinner and pix at 5/6, then he's riding with them to the actual prom and from there to After Prom at 11. I just have to drive back and get him at 4am when it ends. Although he told me yesterday that he didn't know if he could "people" that long .

 

Random thought, perhaps there will be an instagram hashtag that the kids will use? You might find photos that way?

Our town is small enough that the three high schools have Prom together. And our local paper took photos. But, photos are a BIG DEAL! The prom goers take over the downtown basically, and then have a big after party. So, all up and down our main street were prom photos happening, along with the park downtown. I only know because Nick and munchkin went to a movie and ended up in the middle of it all.

 

That sounds so stressful! But I'm totally that mom. I make my kid let me meet parents before he goes over to play. Pick you up at the door? okay, I'm cool. Play at their house for hours? I need to meet you. I don't know that I would worry about it for a single date night though. (Although, I met some parents that were a little crazy once, and I definitely encouraged my child to play at our house with that friend instead after that.)

 

That is weird! You'd think they would have wanted to meet before the 2 year mark!

 

My Junior (grandson) just went to his prom. Those kids looked so cute! A lot of their friends came to my DD's before the prom and we all took pictures.

 

That sounds stressful!!!

Senior prom was the first dance my sons' school has had since in the beginning of the pandemic (we only do senior proms). Michael was super low key about it. I had bought him a couple suits earlier this year, so he decided to wear one of those. We asked him numerous times if he wanted a tux and he declined. My husband proactively ordered boutonnieres. We took pictures at a popular Seattle park and then dropped a few of them off at a restaurant (that they'd picked out the same day?!). They Uber'd to the dance (held at the top of a skyscraper). They all said it was pretty underwhelming, lol. Michael had two dates (both friends).



He's going to another school's prom next weekend. It will be interesting to see how that experience compares.

 

I finally got some of my grandson's prom pictures put together. They had such a great time!