Prom Shoes Switcheroo

My son Chris had his first prom the other night.  8^th grade prom. Yeah.

They didn’t have that shit when I was in middle school!  But hey, times are a changin’ right?

Wrong!

It’s just another way to get us parents to spend more money and compete with each other to see who buys the best, most expensive dress/tux, etc, etc.  I mean the whole idea was that senior prom was like this epic moment in your entire schooling career alongside your high school graduation.  Both events were meant to commemorate all the hard work you had put in since Kindergarten and a way to congratulate you because you made it!

Today, we congratulate them with graduations from PreK, Kindergarten, 5^th grade, 8^th Grade, and 12^th grade.  Now they have 8^th grade prom, junior prom, and senior prom.  WTF!  It’s almost as if we lowered our expectations for our children.  As IF graduating PreK was so damn difficult!  Gimme a break! LOL!

Whatever, at the end of the day it doesn’t matter because I sooooo love these moments and milk them for all their worth.

So my hubby and I take him to Men’s Warehouse to pick out a tux and of course we’re pointing him in the direction of the most affordable one, but now the lady is telling us that there will be an additional $20 charge because we are ordering it one week before the prom…so FYI be sure to order 2 weeks in advance so you don’t get raped with late ordering fees.

Thursday before Prom we pick up the tux, Friday morning I take him to school, at 11:30 I picked him up, we went to my girl Janice’s place to get his hair did, and when I say did, I’m not talking a trim and quick gel style, I’m talking he wanted his hair relaxed, blow dryed and ironed.  Don’t get me wrong, he’s not one of those metro sexual types, he just hates his curls.  What’s wrong with that?

Anyways, then off to get his eyebrows waxed….well, they are really thick, and I would’ve done it my self, but I’m out of wax.  And then home for a quick nap.  Then dad spent some quality father and son time teaching him how to tie a tie.  Those moments, when I see my husband spending an intimate teaching moment with one of our sons are really the most touching.  I suppose since I can’t be on the outside and look in on myself when I have these moments with them, being witness to a moment you know a child will never forget, is something special.

It was then time to put on the suit and of course, dad’s shoes, which Chris and I already had a plan for.

Chris wanted to wear his black converse, and since I’m all about expressing yourself, I supported the idea.  Buuuutttt I knew my hubby was not going to be as enthusiastic about it.  So, the plan was to take the converse in my bag, Christian would leave the house with his dad’s shiny black shoes on, and the switcheroo would occur in the car ride to prom.  Since his dad was leaving for Guard that night, he would never know the difference.

Yeah yeah, I know what you’re thinking. I conspired with my son to sneak behind my husband’s back.  Yes, I did.  I don’t deny it.  However, I thought of it in the greater good of my sons experience at his very first Prom.

I could take the chance and inform my husband that Chris wanted to wear his converse and not the shiny shoes and risk my husband getting upset with Chris for not wearing the tux “appropriately” which in turn would have upset my son, and my son being upset was the last thing I wanted him to remember the evening by (it was already bad enough that because his girlfriend has an overprotective father, he wouldn’t have the opportunity of picking her up and taking her as his “date”).

So you see, like the saying goes…we pick our battles, and my battle for that evening would be between me and my husband over why I didn’t trust him enough to tell him about the Converse.

But my son….my son went to prom happy, all decked out in his tux with his black converse.  It was his little touch of style, his way to personalize his look, his way of standing out a little as being different from everyone else.  And at the end of the day, that’s very cool with me because I want my boys to be leaders, not followers…but at the same time, know and understand that there is a time and a place for everything.  And that, my friends, was my lesson for the day.

Peace Out!!

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