Prom vs. Skating Competition

Belle is at the prom tonight.  This is a bittersweet night for me.  It really is a rite of passage, even if it is just her junior year.  She is a beautiful young woman now.  In any case, the preparations we have made for tonight really reminded us both of getting ready for a competition.  It was eerily similar in so many ways. 

First came the dress/costume.  It had to look and feel just right.  She chose a beautiful coral dress that really made her look amazing.  Of course she had to coordinate with her date, he also had to match (it reminded me of pairs costuming!)   The jury is still out on whether this is more expensive or not, I think the dress was less expensive than a skating dress, but she will only wear it once so per use it really costs a lot more.

Of course there was hair prep, as there is at any competition.  Only this time I got to pay someone a lot of money to do it for her.  For skating we usually just put it up in a pony tail with some sort of cool hair  thing (I prefer something sparkly, Belle just wants secure!)  It looked great, even though she is still recovering from a super bad haircut not to long ago!

Then of course there was all the extra stuff, packing a bag for after prom, making sure that everything is in order, scheduling with other people, arrivals and departures to plan for.  Yep, a lot like a competition.  Belle actually said it made her a lot more relaxed about the whole process.  She seemed to be in really good spirits when she left the house.  Aside from some rain and a forgotten boutonniere (quicly retrieved by me) all seemed to go well.  I hope that they have a fantastic night, enjoy after prom, and remember all of this for the rest of their lives.  It is a once in a lifetime experience.

Oh, just for the record, as Belle headed off to a great Italian dinner and wonderful evening/night out, Peter Pan, Moose and I had hot dogs and frozen french fries and watermelon.  So much for fancy nights at our house.