Tis' the season Friends....thats right!! Prom Season!!

This time last year I was preparing for my daughters Prom. It seems these days Prom is much like a wedding. The preparation is extensive, time consuming and expensive. Even though the months leading up to this special day was at times beyond challenging in the end it was all very much worth it. If this is your year, the year your daughter or son is graduating highschool. Please keep in mind how important this night may be to your child.
  Many teens today feel that prom is a rite of passage and a high school milestone. Prom signifies the end of a high school career, more so than graduation. It's typically the last school function they will share, as what follows is friends leaving and moving to different cities and towns. Many of your son or daughters friends will not be heading in the same direction as your child. They may all be going to different Universities, colleges or possibly heading back to redo some highschool courses. Kids suffer a lot of stress during these times, maintaining their grades inorder to be accepted into their program of choice. Maybe teens feel the pressures of picking a program, and not knowing exactly what it is they want to do for future career choices. I guess Go crazy one last time before reality hits, and choices need to be made.
As for us parents, we have more worries about Prom night. We have to worry about excessive drinking, drug use, car accidents, rape, pressure and even low self-esteem issues that prom can spur.
For me, I felt leading up to Prom it was so important to keep communication open with my teen. We discussed every topic mentioned above. For weeks, we would have discussions around safety with drinking, drugs and sex. Typically a Prom will consist of a whole weekend of parties. Our group of kids usually go camping for the weekend. Obviously that was more nerve wearing than Prom night. The thought of our daughter sharing a tent with boys, and drunk friends was terrifying. We did our best, we gave her all of the information over and over again, praying that she was respecting and understanding all of our concerns.
We don't know everything, and we are certainly not perfect. I am sure there is much we don't know about our children's Prom nights. Nor...do I really want to know. But I can say with certainty that both of my kids went to their Prom's and both came home from the experience with happy memories to last a life time. At the end of this whole ordeal, bottom line is their safety, and its up to you as a parent to make the right choices. Try to respect them and their choices as well, do not judge or criticise their resolutions.
If they come home all in one piece with funny stories to share and an experience of a lifetime, let them be. Those are their reflections, their own adventure. As long as you have spent all your time and energy trying to provide them with all the information they need for a safe night, then your job is done.
Lets go back to the whole self-esteem issue I mentioned. Once spring hits the school, prom tickets are being made, venues are being sought and dresses are being searched. We have the rumors of who is going to ask whom to the Prom. We see cupcakes decorated with four simple letters P-R-O-M?.

 Banners spread amongst highschool hallways with questions of possible dates for Prom. The pressure is on, in todays growing need of sensualisation and social media coverage. These poor young men are put to the test to come up with the most inventive way to ask one simple question "Will you go to Prom with me?"
Even though the crushing competition is on for these young men, the girls are being judged on how well of a job "their" guy did. We as adults know this is just ridiculous. Being the mother of a young lady who was asked to prom I made it clear to her to be sensitive to the young mans feelings. Be thoughtful of your response and remember this whole "Promposal" is not an easy thing for a young man to do. Any effort he puts into this is to be appreciated. Regardless of the attempt, be kind and be thankful.

Last year was the first time I had ever heard of the whole "Promposal" ritual. My understanding is that it has always been a thing in the United States, but its only been the past few years that the Canadian kids have picked it up as part of their teenage culture. Honestly, I do like it. I think its a great way to teach young men about "romance" or more likely how important it is too put in an effort to make a young lady happy. It was so neat to hear how some of these young men teamed up together and helped eachother out with ideas and the execution of a proposal.

 How they spoke with other girls in their class, or the friends of potential date to see what she would like. Many had asked their siblings or parents for help to come up with a real cool way to Prom-pose.
My daughter even had some girl friends who Promposed to the guy. Which again I think is fantastic. Why not? Equal rights for women right?

Anyways, typically there is a Prom theme. Remember in that movie "Never Been Kissed" with Drew Barrymore. The graduating class was trying to come up with a prom theme, they were throwing out ideas. Some schools go extreme, check out the couple pictures below.

                                                         (Paris themed Prom)
These Prom themes are pretty extreme. They are beautiful, but in my opinion not necessary. The amount of money that goes into Prom is outstanding. I'm not sure if the extra's such as lighting and themed based decorations is a good idea. Although its beautiful, and the pictures are very pretty...its not always in the best interest of those attending to put their money towards this.

                                                                (Frozen themed night)

Our kids rented a very nice hall, they had a few decorations along with a photo booth for take away photo's. The tables looked elegant, the atmosphere was perfect. Overall it was a great night.
Please be prepared to have a budget once you start planning your son or daughters perfect prom night. Be upfront with your teen, give them the budget amount and work with them towards the best possible outcome. All the parties need to be happy, and if you start early enough with your planning and money saving then you will find this event should be a success.
Over all friends, be patient with your child. Please keep communication up front, open and honest. Keep in mind how important this night will be to them.
Well until tomorrow good night and god bless~