I'm not a dancer, but tonight, I danced.
The occasion was a Father-Daughter dance held at the school where my daughter attends. It was open to anyone in the local school district, kindergarten through eighth grade, and there was quite a turnout -- I'd guess about 150 father/daughter pairs, with the girls ranging between five and fourteen years old. The people at our table were fun and interesting -- one was my daughter's best friend, one was a girl she'd known since preschool, and the last was a girl she apparently only knew slightly. That last one really impressed me; in addition to being quite cute, she had a terrific sense of humour -- very quick on the uptake, very dry. I was charmed, and wished to be fourteen again -- though if I were, I'd have been tongue tied and stuttering with the best of them. And not just because of her humor and intelligence; an amazing number of these girls were Clearly Not Kids. They weren't dressed to seduce, but they sure were dressed to impress. If I were that age, I'd have been stunned. As it was, I was quite impressed with their sense of style and color - and just a trace stunned.
The food was catered, and was pretty good; my daughter whacked away her mac and cheese and immediately went to scarf up three brownies, eating one on the way back to the table. As for the dancing, they did the electric slide, the cha cha slide, the twist, some basic rock n'roll, and some pieces better forgotten, though they did not do anything from Hannah Montana, to the ire of two of the girls at my table. My daughter was willing to dance with me -- in fact, came and got me for three of them, even if she did ditch me immediately once for her best friend -- and she had a good time, running back and forth, shrieking with laughter.
I'd do it again.
4 comments:
What an important and precious time in your life. Did you get photos? That would be a nice memory.
What a wonderful thing for the SD to put on. Like Tabor already said .. it's a precious and important time in both your lives. And that she loved having you there and dancing with her .. says alot for your relationship too.
I was actually a little surprised that she wanted to do it. She didn't WANT TO want to, but when we asked, she said yes, and unlike other things along this line, she didn't back out, though I expected that she would. She's not much for going out to parties -- I think that part of that is because neither of us is (though my wife is better at that than me), and part of it is a certain level of insecurity about how others will view her. An early-teen, insecure: imagine!
I told her two or three times that I enjoyed it, but what convinced her that I meant it (she's old enough to know that sometimes you say that to a kid when you don't really mean it; she's also smart enough not to ask) is that she saw an email I sent to the rec board after returning home, telling them how much I'd enjoyed it. That I was willing to do that, in writing, was proof positive for her.
We did get a formal photograph -- thirty seconds before the camera, look up, turn to the left, left hand on right knee, say MONEY! -- and people were walking around doing candid shots. So we'll get at least one.
One kid (could have been several at once; I didn't see her/them disembark) showed up in a gleaming white stretch limo. OMG !
Sounds like fun!
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