Getting prepped for prom in the house of estrogen

I will be in an estrogen-filled house today as Amelia and her friends prepare for prom.

Of course, I live in an estrogen-filled house anyway, except for Socks the Cat, who just comes around to eat, sleep and occasionally sneak inside for a nap. I’m not sure of the gender of Amelia’s fish.

It’s just that today we’ll have some of Amelia’s friends and our niece Nicole, who’s coming to town to do their hair. Since Socks will, no doubt, be nowhere to be found, I’ll be the only testosterone-bearing person there.

But, aside from being in the minority, I can’t believe Amelia’s grownup enough to be going to her first high school prom. It seems like it wasn’t so long ago we were taking her to kindergarten. Now, she’s driving and has bought her own car, has a steady job and is looking at colleges, all while going to high school. And going to the prom.

Time sure has a wicked way of slipping away, doesn’t it?

This prom thing is sort of new to me. Eli went when he was in high school but he just had to rent a tux. With a teenage girl, it’s different. There’s dresses, and shoes, and hair, and tanning, and all the preparation. Amelia and Kim went looking for prom dresses a few weeks back. I’m amazed at what a prom dress costs. Actually, I’m astounded at what prom costs anyway when you add up the cost of dresses, tuxes, dinner, limo rental for those who go that route. Parents easily could find themselves needing to take out a small loan to pay for prom.

Fortunately, Amelia tends to be quite sensible. I think I’ve mentioned at some point that she’s a very good shopper who is able to find bargains for brand-name clothing at inexpensive prices. It’s uncanny. So it was with her prom dress that she and Kim found. Although I’ve only seen it on her in pictures at this point, it’s gorgeous — and reasonably priced. When I finally see her in her gown, I have a feeling I might get something in my eye that’ll make it water.

After all, while she looks good in anything (dads are biased that way) I’m more used to seeing her in jeans and camo than a prom dress, and I’m not sure how much beauty I can handle at one time. (Like I said, dads are biased that way.)

Proms are a big point in young people’s lives. For most, it’s the first time they’ve attended such a formal affair. It’s the first time many of them have worn fancy gowns and tuxes. (I’ve worn a tux exactly three times — once for a friend’s wedding, once for a formal event while I was working at Texarkana and once for my own wedding.) It’s a time for them to feel like celebrities and be treated as such. For some, it may be the first time to go out for a classy meal, complete with reservations, on their own. (Although, it’s sometimes not unusual to see teens in gowns and tuxes at McDonald’s on prom night, either.)

It also can be the first big dance for some of them, too. We didn’t have a prom at DeKalb because we usually didn’t have dancing in DeKalb. It wasn’t like that town in “Footloose,” but like a lot of Southern towns back then we just didn’t have dancing, at least not openly promoted dancing. (We did dance at high school band parties, but those of us in the band tended to be rebels anyway.)

We did have a junior-senior banquet, which consisted of a big meal, awards, having a good time, then everyone headed out for a while for their own diversions before getting back together in a more casual atmosphere at the principal or a teacher’s home about 11 or midnight for light foods and fellowship for a while before going home.

I suspect our house will be a focal point for Amelia and her friends after prom, again putting me in the minority. But, that’s OK, because before prom I’ll be doing the traditional fatherly thing — taking pictures. Having seen what other parents have done at prom times past, it appears taking pictures is mandatory. Of course, I’d be doing it anyway, so be looking for me to flood Facebook with pre-prom photos.

I hope everyone enjoys themselves and has a fun prom night, and that it’s a safe one as well. In the meantime, I’ll just be off in my own safe little corner of our estrogen household.