My soon-to-be-High-School-graduate daughter Jessica went with Matt to the Harker
Senior Prom last Friday night. At midnight, after the dance, she and 14 of her
friends came over to our house for their after-prom party.
When Jessica and I first discussed this event, it was going to be just a few
teenagers coming over for a quiet evening. However, it seems our family was offering
the best alternative to some of the wilder parties being planned, so we
ended up with a crowd. The kids who asked to come to our house were those who
wanted to watch a video (and snuggle with their prom dates in the dark), play
computer games, drink sodas, eat cheetos, chips, and salsa, and hang out in the hot tub.
I talked with three worried parents who called several days in advance to find
out about this party their teen wanted to attend. By the third conversation, I knew to
answer the questions up front: adult chaperons present and taking notice, no drugs, no drinks,
boys and girls sleep on separate floors, we can provide rides to and from prom, and I
would try to get everyone into their sleeping bags by 3 a.m. (one teen to a bag, one bag
to a teen).
Our guests all arrived looking gorgeous in their formal dresses and suits. There was
much mutual assistance from the girls to get unlaced and unzipped and makeup off and
flowers unpinned. The clothes bar over our washer and dryer was full of
elegant clothes carefully hung and folded. Some of them had even brought garment
hanging bags to protect their glad rags. Many of them changed right into their
sleeping clothes.
They were well behaved and as quiet as they could manage given their high spirits and
joy in being together. I asked that they not wake up Jessica’s little brother
or he would want to join in. They enthusiastically agreed. More than a dozen
kids in our hot tub began to look like teenager soup. I sent them to bed before 4 a.m.
More than half of of our guests had forgotten to bring sleeping bags so we loaned out ours
and provided quilts for the rest.
There were some begging to be able to stay up quietly to play video games because they
were not tired and sleeping was boring but eventually everyone settled down.
The girls giggled for long enough in Jessica’s room that one of the boys came up to
tell them to be quiet!
They started to wake up again at 8 a.m. and were making cinnamon buns and pancakes when
I had to leave for a church meeting in Salinas. John got to manage the morning party
shift. When I returned home that afternoon, all
that was left was a big heap of bedding and wet towels. I am still not done washing
and drying quilts and sleeping bags. They left behind 2 swimsuits (1 girl’s, 1 boy’s),
2 sets of silver ear hoops, 1 big blue towel, and 1 Google-brand chapstick. So far,
we have found owners for everything except the towel and the chapstick. Everyone
seemed to have a very good time.
KatysBlog 