Fancy Dress

In the spring, J attended two different proms. At our school, they do a “walk in” where those who are inclined can sit in the auditorium and watch all of the prom attendees who wish to do so walk on stage, get their names announced, pose for photos, and then walk up the aisle and on to the prom itself. I think this is super-fun. It is wonderful to see everyone dressed up, especially since we’ve lived here since the girls were babies. You’ll see some couple in sparkly evening wear and then squint and realize that one of them was on a soccer team with your kid or used to ask you to read to them during first grade library time

Taking pictures is also fun, at least for me. Cute W can’t help but get recruited to be an official photographer. Even if no one in the group already knows about his photography hobby, when he shows up with his big-ass camera and multiple lenses, they are clued in and soon he’s taking special requests and promising to share the results

There are tons of beautiful places to pose for photographs around us. We’ve done photo shoots at Central Park Rose Garden, our elementary school, and Union College, but my favorite is when the group ends up at Mohawk Golf Club. I remember back when M first started playing recreational soccer, and I said, “Ohhhh, so this is where the entire town goes on Saturday mornings!” And, okay, it’s an exaggeration, but during those rec soccer years, I knew that along with soccer, I’d have a chance to see all the friends who had separated when the kids moved on from moms’ group and nursery school into their separate, big-kid elementary school lives. In much the same way, if you want to see a huge chunk of the town population and reunite with old friends, show up at the Mohawk Golf Club on the afternoon before a prom. It’s like a convention, packed with formally-attired teenagers and casually-dressed grown-up paparazzi.

Everyone is happy, everyone is looking their cutest, and once again you can squint and find the kids you knew from the soccer team or the kindergarten class. At a certain point during a visit this year, I was just overwhelmed with joy that everyone was able to gather together, and I took random pictures of the gathering itself (because of course Cute W’s pictures are going to be better than mine). I also love these kids, today’s kids, so much. Many are in typical formalwear, but others are not afraid to go a little extra funky, play with gender norms, or completely bling out. It makes it more fun and you see some serious personality. I also just love watching how everyone is grooming each other, fixing tags and tying each other’s ties and fussing with each other’s hair. It just feels so affectionate and lovely. And this includes the boys, too, who don’t act like getting too close to each other will give them cooties, like they did back when I went to my proms. It is heartwarming to behold.

And here, just for fun, is a little slice of J, wearing her blue-with-sparkles dress that she found for $20 at a thrift store purely by chance several months before prom. It fit her perfectly and she looked so pretty!