We had a great time trick-or-treating last night. Ava was totally juiced for the event, and she went hard for two hours before hitting the wall about the time we arrived at Grandpa Chuck’s house. Next up: Thanksgiving.
I came across an article in the WSJ this morning that has me thinking. I’m trying to postpone any thoughts of Ava’s dating life as long as I possibly can, but once in a while I’ll come across a news story or op/ed piece that gives me pause. For example:
Last month, a boy asked my 16-year-old daughter to his school’s homecoming dance. She agreed to go, bought a new dress and made a hairdresser appointment.
The boy never bought tickets to the dance. Neither did his friends. They decided that attending homecoming wouldn’t be cool, and instead planned to just dress up that night, go out for dinner and then hang out with their dates at someone’s house.
I don’t know whether Ava will ever care about getting dressed up to attend a school dance. Lord knows her mother never got much further than abandoning her ever-present army-green fanny pack as a nod to formality. But I’d like to hope that, if Ava ever did long for a special night at a dance, she could find a boy who’s enough of a gentleman to see that she had a nice time. Maybe that’s old fashioned? Maybe there won’t be any school dances when she gets older (I blame sexo con ropa!) I just hope that she gets treated with respect and care. I feel a resonance with the expression in the article linked above that the modern “hooking up” theme doesn’t do much to prepare young kids for the trials and tribulations of adult relationships. Perhaps adult relationships are on the way out?