A Formal Affair

Last Friday night was 8th Grade Party at Simons Middle School. I had never heard of this event until coming to Fleming County but it is a very big deal around here. It's basically a middle school prom type thing. They don't crown a king and queen but the whole 8th grade votes on about 8 boys and 8 girls to be on the "court." Sunday dress is acceptable but most of the kids wear formal attire. Jarrod, being an eighth grader this year, went to the party. Hannah Pollitt from church was his date for the evening.

In the interest of saving money, or at least getting something for my money, I tried to talk Jarrod into letting me buy him a nice Sunday dress outfit to wear so he would have something he could wear again but nothin' doin'! He HAD to have a tux. Darren agreed that he should have one if he wanted one so we told him we would pay $70 toward renting the tux and the rest would be his responsibility.

He had been mowing and babysitting so he had managed to save up some money and decided that he was responsible enough to open his own checking account so I took him to the bank and he became a depositor. Our next stop after the bank was the bridal shop. By the time we left there he was looking for a bankruptcy attorney! Are you aware of what it costs to rent a tux these days? About the cheapest thing he could get was $149.00! In the end he managed to drum up some work and had enought to pay the balance of his tux rental with some left over.

When Friday night arrived he got all dressed up and ready to go. He was so handsome! I couldn't believe how grown up he looked. We met Hannah and her family to take photos. Hannah looked gorgeous and they made a very cute couple. They rode to the party with a couple of their friends (with a parent driver, of course) after going to Pizza Hut to eat out. Many of the parents and family members hang around the school to watch the kids walk in and watch the announcement of the court. Darren and I needed to go to Maysville so we skipped the spectator opportunity. But now I wish I'd stayed. Jarrod was chosen to be on the court. He was so excited when I picked him up at 11:00 p.m. that night and he had a great time. It was a perfect ending to his eighth grade year and of course we are very proud of him.

Wow! I can't believe my baby will be a freshman in high school next year. Parents, hug your babies because before you know it they'll be all grown up!