"Those Who Danced Were Thought To Be Quite Insane by those Who Did Not Hear the Music."

Tonight is the first middle school dance. The Boy and his buddy will dress in costume, go to a pre-dance dinner (guys only) and then head over to the dance. Their costumes of choice? Austin Powers and Mini-me. The Boy will sport a blue faux-velvet suit with a lacy collar, thick black glasses and fake bad teeth. His friend will wear a faux gray leisure suit, bald cap, and scar make-up. Just the thought of it makes me laugh out loud. Now it took a couple of weeks to get The Boy to commit to a costume. Since you have to wear it to the dance, it put a bit more pressure on the decision. The Boy never puts a lot of thought into Halloween. When he was a toddler, I tried to dress him as a bear one year. He ripped it off within the first 5 minutes. The next year, I tried a dinosaur...he lasted about 10 minutes. The last few years, he throws on a rubber Green Bay Packers mask that he bought in Green Bay at a game a few years back. When I ask him what he is, he says "Who cares?" So you see where I am coming from. But finally, after mulling over many of my suggestions (No mom, lame. No mom, stupid. No mom, embarrassing.), he and the buddy settled on their decision.

The thing I like about the guys' decision is the lack of vanity. After hearing the choices of some classmates, I could tell that the goal of some was to wear something as neutral as possible, so as not to interfere with any "coolness". I was thankful that The Boy is still able to laugh at himself. When he tried on his costume (under duress) last night, there was a moment of hesitation...and an admission that he looked like a "doofis" (having never spelled that before, it could be wrong). But this feeling was quickly set aside with a "who cares"...and he was back to shooting baskets. This is very unlike Little One, who carefully measured every costume she considered, finally picking the one that looked the 'cutest". And indeed, the name of the costume is "Captain Cutie". The only thing military about it is the olive green color. It basically looks like a mini-dress, with an accompanying beret and finger-less gloves. Add to that her black converse high-tops...and she is definitely Captain Cutie.

But back to The Boy. I took the opportunity to have a chat with him about dance etiquette. His comment was that he was going to "ask someone nice quickly to dance and get it over with so I can relax". I totally agreed. And I know who he will most likely ask. The Boy has a great radar for 'nice-ness'. But I suggested to him that if the spirit moved him, maybe he should ask a couple of the girls who might not get asked a lot to dance. Now The Husband, reading about this now for the first time, is shaking his head. His suggestion would have been to ask the prettiest girl first before anyone else...and then proceed in order of prettiness. But The Boy has a big heart, and he actually listened to what I said. He named a few people who might not get asked to dance...and I could see his mind working. "I don't know mom...don't really want to slow dance. But may be this..." ...and then he proceeded to break into some kind of wild dancing that only a 12 year old boy with no inhibitions can pull off...

So tonight, as I attach the fake teeth on The Boy, draw thick eyebrows on the friend...and drive them to dinner, I'm sure I will be overcome by a feeling of melancholy....The Boy growing up...but that will quickly be pushed aside by the sight of these two goofs sporting accents and limps, creating their 'characters". And besides, The Husband will be along to take pictures and offer sarcasm....

So until next week, with Happy Halloween wishes to all....and the hope that The Boy dances the night away...and has a little fun too...