Sissy's update... including Homecoming Weekend
Sissy quickly adjusted to high school, which I contribute a lot to the marching band. She got to start the year with upperclassmen friends. Plus, she has found a new volume within her voice. I have noticed a new confidence in her this year. She is just more comfortable being herself and isn’t too worried about people not liking her! I love it!
With her demanding band schedule, she did not get to start Ballet at the beginning of the season, and she is only going half time for the next month. She was a little nervous about starting late and being behind. Luckily, she is still in excellent condition (Thank you marching band)! Between that and the love for dance, she seems to be catching up quickly! This is extra beneficial since tryouts are this week!!!!
Marching Band
Being part of the Marching band is kind of all-consuming: three to four-hour practices, three days a week, Friday night games, exhibitions, competitions… my entire schedule begins and ends around the band. She has performed at all the football games, pep rallies, one parade, three competitions, and a drum-off. It is lots of fun, and she is so happy (but this Momma is running on fumes). In the first few weeks, it was too hot to wear their full uniforms (county’s rule), so they performed in the show shirt and shorts. It still looked great. Now that they are playing in their uniforms (and props), I am soooo amazed at how good this show looks!
Homecoming
At the beginning of September, I knew homecoming weekend would be soon, so I asked her if she had any desire to go (at her age I did not, but she is having a much different freshmen experience than I did). She nonchalantly answered, “maybe, I’ll think about it.” A few days later, she said it “it would probably be fun” so we started planning. (* little side note – a date was never mentioned, nor did she feel like she needed a date to go and have fun! We have raised her to be strong and independent)! So we discussed our minimal budget. She tried on some dresses a friend had and agreed to wear one of them. She was a little worried it “fit to well” because you know, she’s built like her Momma and we are a bit curvier than the average bear. I was mentioning to my best friend about her anxiety, so she offered her homecoming dress from her freshmen year. It is a mid-length dark purple velvet dress, and it looked exceptional on her! From the second Sissy tried it on, you could see this was THE DRESS! She was so comfortable and confident in it! Sissy also liked the fact that it was a dress with a story and loved that my friend had also wore it to her freshmen dance (#fullcirclelove)!
Then we focused on accessories. The theme of the Dance was GLOW, so she wanted to do brightly colored jewelry, and since the dress was from 1997, she wanted to do a classy “retro” look (which I don’t know how I feel about 1997 being considered retro but… I went with it!). In 1997 butterfly clips were huge, so we started there. We went to Walmart and found these cuuute gold multicolored clips! Then we went to the jewelry department and found big dangle earrings and a choker with the same color scheme as the clips (FATE!!). I felt like she needed a little bit of dangle with the neckline of the dress, and she did not argue with me (mom win). We could hardly wait to get home and see what it would look like all together. Now that we had the bling, we needed shoes. With the dance being less than a week away, it kind of felt like reversed Cinderella! My aunt offered a gold pair she had only worn once, but they were just a little too small. Then my dad's wife gave her a black velvet pair that looked fantastic (she looked way tooo grown, she planned on wearing them anyway)! The day of the dance, her grandmother stopped by with a pair she had found that looked a lot like the ones she was planning on wearing, but the heel was much shorter, so last minute she went with those!
Homecoming parade
It is a tradition for her school to have a homecoming parade the Friday of the homecoming game. The parade goes around the block, passing an elementary school and then the middle school and ends back at the high school. All the teams and clubs create floats, the homecoming court each is represented, and the marching band marches and plays. A fun fact about the parade is that her dad and I were in the parade the second year the school was open. We had just officially started dating, and we were a “king and queen on the VOCA float. It is utterly crazy to me that our daughter not only goes to the school where our relationship started but is doing things that we did together! (again… #fullcirclelove!!!!)
Homecoming game
I don’t remember much about the homecoming game except being exhausted! With the homecoming court being presented during half-time, the marching band did not do their show until after the game was over, on top of being the unofficial shuttle bus for a few of La’s friends after every home game… Needless to say, we did not get home until after midnight. So other than it being an event on the timeline, the actual game was a blur.
The day of the Dance
The morning of the dance, Lou had dance class, so I woke Sissy up early to shower, and I did her hair in the lobby of the dance studio. Now I am no hair stylist, but with our limited funds, I had to find a way to make her hair look good by myself. She wanted some wavy curls. We decided to try a wrap technique. Normally for curly hair I would do it the night before, but with the football game we just did not have the energy to do it then. We decided to use this headband curler on her hair (not going to lie I was terrified that it was not going to work, and I was going to fail at her updo!) Since she had just showered her hair was wet, we brushed it out and put mousse into it. Then she put the headband on, and basically, I wrapped her hair around it as tightly as possible. We sprayed the wrapped part with hair spray and let it sit for 6 hours to air dry then I used the blow-dryer to rush the process. After she did her make-up, I started the unwrapping process. The end result was better than I ever could have planned! We then pulled the side up with twists, clipped into place with the butterfly clips! I was so happy with how good it looked (and a little proud of myself too!)
When she was all dolled up and ready to go, we went outside and had a mini- photoshoot. Then we rushed to meet her friends for dinner. I wasn’t sure if any of the other parents were staying, but one other mom did, and we ate dinner together at a separate table. She offered for Sissy to ride with her to the dance, but Sissy chose for me to take her. (We made a quick stop by Nana’s to show her off!) Then it was time for me to drop her off. I was totally that parent that waited to watch her walk-in! She didn’t seem to mind walking in alone, and she looked so beautiful and confident. Two upperclassmen girls stopped her and complimented her on her dress and hair, and I could see the smile from where I was sitting in the car! I will be totally honest; I cried a little! Not only is it hard to believe that my daughter was old enough to be going to homecoming, but she was so grateful for it all! She never complained about not getting her hair or nails done or not getting a brand-new dress or new shoes.
She was so gracious through the whole experience! I’m so proud of the young lady she has become!
While she was at the dance I thought about when her Dad and I were there and being at the dance. It was one of those weekends that truly reminded me that we have a full circle love! I refer to our relationship as this from time to time because we have worked very hard to be the high school sweethearts that stay together and have daughters that do the things we did, but better! Changing the dysfunctional cycles from our past, making sure they are given opportunities to be their best selves and being loved and supported in everything they do! I love moments, like homecoming, that I get to physically see how powerful and impactful love can be. It makes all the rough times and struggles worth it!
When I picked her up from the dance, she was so happy and had such a good time. She talked the whole way home (which is way more than she usually talks). It was so beautiful to see her that happy and know she had a night she will never forget. I cannot wait to see what the rest of the year has in store for her!