the snowflake

Before you think I am going to be writing about actual snowflakes, I am not.  The Snowflake is the name of the dance that they have at our district's junior high.  Bob didn't go last year and was still not interested this year.  However, SJ wanted to go.  I was extremely surprised, but happy to hear this. 

Now for the big question.  Did he want to go with a girl?  There were rumors that a certain girl wanted him to take her, but he doesn't reciprocate her feelings, so that wasn't going to happen.  I told him he could go with friends in a group or we could simply drop him off by himself.  He thought about it for a while.  He opted to go with Topher. 

The night of the dance SJ got dressed in the same attire from the last wedding we attended.  He looked very handsome.  Of course, I took some pictures at our house.  I was practically crying while I was taking the pictures (my baby was going to his first dance!).  We drove to Topher's house to pick him up. Topher was arguing with his mom about the color of socks he was going to wear.  His mom won that argument (I was in total agreement with her) and we took more pictures of the two of them.  I drove them to the junior high and told SJ to leave his IPod in the car.  I wasn't sure if they were allowed to have electronics at a school function, plus I wanted him to interact with the other students at the dance.  Topher's dad was picking up the boys at the end of the dance. 

I was a little stressed about how SJ's behavior would be at the dance.  When Topher's dad dropped him off, he was crying and seemed upset.  Topher's dad told my husband that SJ wasn't happy and he tried to calm him down.  My husband thanked him and we went to talk to SJ.

Apparently, there were a few things that happened. 

1. Every student had their electronic device!  (Oops, that was my fault that I didn't let him take it in.)

2. The music was WAY TOO LOUD! (SJ's exact words).  Loud music is always problematic for SJ.  We should have had him take ear plugs, but being this was his first dance we weren't aware of how loud the music would be.

3. Two girls asked him to dance (how dare they...just kidding).  He did tell us that he told the girls "no thank you", so at least he wasn't rude.  We suggested that he may want to dance with a girl the next time, but he wasn't receptive to that suggestion that night. 

4. He felt lonely at the end.  We told him there was only one way to solve that problem.  Talk to someone!

Even with all these things that happened, I am still so happy and proud that he went to the dance.  I wish Bob would be as social as SJ tries to be sometimes, but they are different kids. 

A few weeks later, he told me there may be another dance in February. He said, "I think I will take a date to the next dance.  At least then, I won't be lonely."  I smiled and said, "That is a great idea, SJ."  Now, to get him to understand that when you take a girl to a dance, he will actually have to dance with her. Something else for us to work on with him.