I Was Unprepared that High School = Homecoming

About ten weeks ago my oldest son started high school and with it has brought many new experiences. Of course there is now the significance of grades from this point forward being on a transcript. I get less information on what homework and projects are due—I do have online access to every grade on every assignment, but Oldest shares less homework and project info as compared to middle school.

Secondly, I have experienced Oldest being on a high school sports team: cross country (this is in addition to his playing on a rec baseball team). I took him to his first meet a couple months ago at 6:30 a.m. and it may have been the lack of sleep, or my perpetual PMS-ishness, but I was teary-eyed seeing my sports filled years of Saturdays transform from a field of little boy bodies to a larger group of teenage, muscular bodies. All the high schoolers were so supportive and kind to each other. In the midst of this maturity, when I returned home I proceeded to cook everything from the refrigerator that needed cooking, prepared salads that needed fixing, and made two batches of muffins from boxes found on the shelf.

And then all of a sudden I heard about an upcoming homecoming dance from Hubs, after High School son gave him the deets first.

Let’s back up to the cross country team as this is significant to the story. Oldest Son hedged back and forth between wanting to join, worried that it might conflict with baseball games, but at the 11^th hour decided to join—turns out he is friends with a girl (we’ll call her Sarah) who was joining the team. Being on the team means that there’s practice every day after school, and we told Oldest Son he needed to speak up and find out carpool arrangements. Hubs became the Friday driver, which means he had a leg up on the high school scoop. In addition to Sarah, there is another girl on the team (we’ll call her Danielle) in this carpool, and Hubs observed both of them, joking around with Oldest, shoving him in the arm, etc. So Hubs assumed either Sarah or Danielle liked Oldest, but he assumed wrongly. As it turns out, these two girls have boyfriends, but they have taken our son under their wing and encouraged him to 1). Join cross country…2). Go to the Homecoming Dance …. And 3). Provide guidance on how to dress.

Oldest Son and many of his guy friends decided to go to the Homecoming Dance without bringing “a girl” but instead making it a dates and singles group event. These girls are very organized and told the guys that there would be pictures at a designated park at 5:00, dinner at a particular restaurant with a fixed price of $20 including tip, transportation by various named parents to the dance, and then transportation to Sarah’s house for a party, which would last till 2:00 a.m. (WTW? Hubs was the softie on this part, not me. In fact, Hubs was the softie on all parts of this, which is très interesting because he is the strictest Dad on the block and some of Oldest’s friends had him as a teacher so there is no mistaking this).

When the subject of dance attire was brought up, Hubs and I were at a loss, but thanks to Sarah, she advised Oldest a week prior, that she had just bought a dress at Express and she noticed that they had a young men’s dept and that he should wear dress pants, dress shoes, solid shirt and a tie and no jacket needed. In fact, she told him, “I have a coupon that is $20 off a $100 purchase” and that she’d drop it by our mailbox that day on the way to an errand with her mom. Net yet met her.....but I like this Sarah a lot. Except for the fact that Oldest would be purchasing costlier clothes than I have bought in years. Oh well.

Hubs took him to one store for black dress pants, at which time I don’t know why but he felt he had to call me with an update from the dressing room. Then they went to Express and bought a bright shirt, and a tie and a black belt. The young, male sales rep directed them to DSW for the black shoes that Oldest admired on the mannequin. How funny. Last time I walked by that store with the boys and I wanted to go in because the shoe sirens inside were beckoning me with their Lorelei song, Oldest moaned and groaned.

So he went to the Homecoming Dance and had a good time. While Hubs and I were at home I had an epiphany about our future. When the boys were really young, Hubs and I might have traded off on who would get up early if need be for the kids. So now in the future, will we have to coordinate who has to stay up late I asked him?? (he stayed up late this time and whenever the next special event occurs it’ll probably be him again).

Well, besides items #1, #2 and #3 above, it turns out that Sarah has also provided Oldest with item #4: Introduce him to a friend of hers who was at the Homecoming Dance, and her Homecoming after-party, but does not attend their school and now they are “an item”.

Then the following weekend it turns out that Sarah and my Oldest’s new "friend" were in a performance on stage together and Oldest was invited by Sarah and her parents, and by Kristen, to attend. Sarah then advised Oldest that he should wear khaki’s, and a nice Polo shirt and be at his house at 5:45 and that after the performance two sets of parents would drive them back to her house for dessert and then her dad would bring Oldest home (these are more details than Oldest has ever had to coordinate on his own in his life).

Well, after two baseball games that Saturday and a two-hour timeframe left for shopping, Hubs and I had to tag team it on a mission to buy new clothes again for Oldest. Plus, Hubs suggested to Oldest that he gives Kristen a small bouquet of flowers after the performance.

I was going to hit a TJ Maxx to the south, followed by Trader Joes for flowers, and Hubs and Oldest would hit a TJ Maxx to the north, followed by Kohls and another shoe store if needed. Both cell phones were charged and ready. Between the two of us calling each other three times and with Oldest on the phone as well, we scored on khakis and socks at Kohls, Polo shirts and a brown belt from two TJ Maxx', Sperry top-siders from Shoe Gallery, and flowers from Trader Joe’s.

After Oldest returned home (at 10:00 p.m.), he told us that Sarah’s boyfriend had also brought flowers for Sarah, so I gave Hubs a high-five for his flowers idea. Oldest told us that after the performance he rode in the car with Kristen and her parents over to Sarah’s house for dessert, at which time he was asked if he knew where he wanted to go to college and what he wanted to study. I said to Hubs, “Jeez, he just turned 14 four months ago.” And Hubs said to me, “But dang he had an answer!”.

So. Pheww. I am worn out just from writing all of this. I wanted to share the news to those of you who have not yet been down this route (or to those of you who’ve been there to humor me as I don’t even have a driver in the house yet)….that along with all the new experiences and changes that high school brings, do not be surprised when 8 weeks into it, you hear about Homecoming. I also wanted to thank those of you with daughters for their helping to keep sons organized with the weekend plans and clothing requirements (and I am totally being serious and not snarky).

As far as this weekend goes, I am just thrilled that two out of three are still young enough to go trick-or-treating on Sunday, and that maybe I’ll play with G.I. Joe guys with Youngest on Saturday.