It’s fall. To some, this season may mean turning leaves, apples and pumpkins. But to a high school girl it means Homecoming, a dress and a dance. To me, a mom of a high school freshman and sophomore, it means grab my wallet and grit my teeth.
The Shopping Trip
As we rode the escalator up to the “dressy dresses”, I began searching for the rack of Gunne Sax gowns. Apparently they no longer make those floor length prom dress gems from the ’80s that have lace all the way up to the neck. Google them if you weren’t a teen in the ’80s.
Shopping with my two favorite girls can make me feel a little restless. I have one that likes everything she sees and one that gets frustrated because she likes nothing she sees.
As we started looking through the racks, there were dresses of every color, length, fabric and style. I saw many other moms shopping with their daughters, steering them away from the body-fitting gold sequin dresses that only cover 1/23 of the body.
As we shopped, my goals were to make sure that we found dresses that:
1) Were age-appropriate
2) Fit well
3) Were affordable
4) Fully covered everything that needs to be covered — including when sitting down
For each of my girls, the only goal was to find a pretty Homecoming dress that no one else had.
After many trips to the dressing room, we got the dress situation nailed down. One of my daughters found a new dress and the other found a perfect dress in her sister’s closet. Go figure.
Shoes became our next task. I made the executive decision that my 14 and 15-year-olds didn’t need to be wearing Kim Kardashian-style stillettos, which is the majority of what was available. Being the savvy mom I am, I knew that the shoes come off after pictures are taken anyway, so we used shoes we already have. I told them people would be looking at their hair instead of their shoes, and I was right.
A Chance to Feel Beautiful
My daughters both had a great time at their 2015 Homecoming. One went with a date and got treated to a very nice restaurant. The other went with a group of friends and had a fun extended photo shoot at Holmes Lake.
In the end, all of this hub-bub created fun memories and a chance to pretend to be an adult for a night. For my girls, it was all about the excuse to wear a fancy Homecoming dress, get their hair fixed and wear a little extra makeup.
They were both beautiful and every girl needs to feel extra beautiful every now and then. That’s why Homecoming is special.
Anne Blankenbiller
K-12 & Teens
Most of my mornings, afternoons, and evenings are spent driving the kids here and there—and then back to here again. Every child is a gift on loan from God. As parents, our job is to raise that child to be an independent adult who can contribute to the world using the gifts and talents he or she was given. It is hands-down the most important job on earth!
