School dance

A couple of weeks ago, Eli had his first school dance.  I like that they eased the kids into it by having it during the day, and offering a movie down the hall, in case the dance proved too overwhelming.  Eli's 'crew' (homeroom on steroids) practiced for the dance by learning the electric slide.   The crew is a very safe space, I can tell because Eli learned the electric slide.  Kind of.  There's work to be done, but I can tell he was on his feet and trying, in front of others, which is lovely.

The day of the dance came and Eli showed uncharacteristic care in choosing his clothes that morning at 6am.  It was a 'Sadie Hawkins' theme and Eli could not remember if he was supposed to wear plaid or flannel.  I suggested a plaid flannel and he was grateful.  I thought his cute plaid shirt was a better idea, as the plaid flannel we had was Theo's and a touch short, but he wanted to cover his bases, if not his forearms.

I asked him if he was going to ask anyone to dance, and he said he could not.  It was Sadie Hawkins, and the girls were in charge.  Of course they were.  Smart girls.

The dance was the last two hours of the school day.  I admit I was very curious to hear how it had gone.  He came in the door from the bus, put down his bag, and said, "Well, I got asked to the dance."  A quick shy smile was flashed my way before he started rummaging for snacks.  Then:  "I am exhausted!".  No doubt.  I asked him to show me how he danced, but he wasn't game for that.  I was just doing some anthropological research.  Wanted to know if they still did the shoulder shuffle like we did in junior high- reaching out and touching our partners lightly on the shoulders, while keeping arms unbent so as to maximize the distance between you and your 'date'.  I demonstrated, but he gave me nothing. 

For the record, I asked him how a student would feel if he or she wanted to ask someone of the same gender, given the Sadie Hawkins theme.  Seemed a to lean heavily hetero to me.  He said, "It'd be fine mom.  No one would get teased.  Open school is not like that."  Phew.