Mr. and Zoe had their first (of what I hope to be many) Father/Daughter Dances tonight. We were inundated with thick, heavy snow all day and each of us checked the weather and community calendar sites with our iPhones tucked away, hoping the dance was still on but fearing the worst.
Des Moines is a hearty town and a foot of snow in mere hours might cause a few collisions, but why close anything down? Get on your snow tires, boots, and 4 wheel drive and get out there!
So they did.
Honestly, the thought of those two out on those streets caused me a slight panic attack, but it was important they go so off they went.
Zoe was insisting on Red Robin, but Red Robin about 15 minutes away and in Des Moines, that means "very long drive in the wrong direction" so they decided on Mexican on their way to the fiesta. Mr. confided in me later that he was a nervous wreck with "Zoe + Bean Dip + Fancy White Dress" and I looked at him like he was crazy. Then I remembered "I spent a fortune on that dress" for the wedding... but I really got it on clearance at Target and pillaged the cosmetic aisle to split the difference. I just never told him that. So, I put the cheap dress in the washer (not even on delicate) and just hung it to dry and it came out looking brand new. Take that Crew Cuts. JCrew wanted $178 for the same dress... literally, the same dress. With a different tag. I had the JCrew one originally and a few months before the wedding I saw the new one hanging in Target for less than 25% of the price. The Crew Cut went back with a flurry of tulle and a smile on this bargain hunters face!
Anyways, I just nodded along like it would have been a travesty to have bean dip touch the expensive, delicate tulle and (faux) raw silk, as Mr. described the night. He must have said "cute" fifteen times. And he never says "cute". Now that's cute, ladies.
Any dance at the Urbandale Senior Center may not be the social event of the season, but for Zoe, it really was... she loved dancing, twirling, and getting photographed for a local paper.
When I asked Zoe if it was like a wedding, she replied, as the wedding aficionado that she is (she was the flower girl in one this fall), "Well, it wasn't like Aunt Anna's. There wasn't a gorgeous bride OR fantastic decorations. BUT! There was a place to tell them what songs you like and they play them - without even saying please cause it's so loud! And I could twirl all night!"
I loved hearing them talk about their evening, but once we started in on weddings it took me back to getting Zo dressed. We had spent the afternoon playing in the snow (Mr. may or may not have been throwing our his back shoveling) and when we came in the dance was an hour away. It was a frenzied ten minutes, yet Zoe was so still and smiley as I curled her hair, put on her tights, and dug through her closet (and almost to Narnia) for her glitter shoes. She was insistent on her Flower Girl dress and she kinda had to jump through to get through the layers of tulle. I was holding the arm holes open and saw this glimpse of us in twenty-five years.
My heart stopped as her big blue eyes met me coming through the white dress. A freight train of emotions hit me head on as I realized I will be lucky to have the honor of getting her into another white dress in a few decades.
When Mr. and Zoe left it hit me even harder that she will soon be going to dances without her daddy and not wanting her momma to help dress her. She may even want shoes with heels instead of glitter on them.
These last (almost) five years have flown by... how fast will the next ones go by?
Des Moines is a hearty town and a foot of snow in mere hours might cause a few collisions, but why close anything down? Get on your snow tires, boots, and 4 wheel drive and get out there!
So they did.
Honestly, the thought of those two out on those streets caused me a slight panic attack, but it was important they go so off they went.
Zoe was insisting on Red Robin, but Red Robin about 15 minutes away and in Des Moines, that means "very long drive in the wrong direction" so they decided on Mexican on their way to the fiesta. Mr. confided in me later that he was a nervous wreck with "Zoe + Bean Dip + Fancy White Dress" and I looked at him like he was crazy. Then I remembered "I spent a fortune on that dress" for the wedding... but I really got it on clearance at Target and pillaged the cosmetic aisle to split the difference. I just never told him that. So, I put the cheap dress in the washer (not even on delicate) and just hung it to dry and it came out looking brand new. Take that Crew Cuts. JCrew wanted $178 for the same dress... literally, the same dress. With a different tag. I had the JCrew one originally and a few months before the wedding I saw the new one hanging in Target for less than 25% of the price. The Crew Cut went back with a flurry of tulle and a smile on this bargain hunters face!
Anyways, I just nodded along like it would have been a travesty to have bean dip touch the expensive, delicate tulle and (faux) raw silk, as Mr. described the night. He must have said "cute" fifteen times. And he never says "cute". Now that's cute, ladies.
Any dance at the Urbandale Senior Center may not be the social event of the season, but for Zoe, it really was... she loved dancing, twirling, and getting photographed for a local paper.
When I asked Zoe if it was like a wedding, she replied, as the wedding aficionado that she is (she was the flower girl in one this fall), "Well, it wasn't like Aunt Anna's. There wasn't a gorgeous bride OR fantastic decorations. BUT! There was a place to tell them what songs you like and they play them - without even saying please cause it's so loud! And I could twirl all night!"
I loved hearing them talk about their evening, but once we started in on weddings it took me back to getting Zo dressed. We had spent the afternoon playing in the snow (Mr. may or may not have been throwing our his back shoveling) and when we came in the dance was an hour away. It was a frenzied ten minutes, yet Zoe was so still and smiley as I curled her hair, put on her tights, and dug through her closet (and almost to Narnia) for her glitter shoes. She was insistent on her Flower Girl dress and she kinda had to jump through to get through the layers of tulle. I was holding the arm holes open and saw this glimpse of us in twenty-five years.
My heart stopped as her big blue eyes met me coming through the white dress. A freight train of emotions hit me head on as I realized I will be lucky to have the honor of getting her into another white dress in a few decades.
When Mr. and Zoe left it hit me even harder that she will soon be going to dances without her daddy and not wanting her momma to help dress her. She may even want shoes with heels instead of glitter on them.
These last (almost) five years have flown by... how fast will the next ones go by?
1 comment:
Awww, love this post! :)
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