Gratitude: Day 15

Day 15


I am grateful for stake dances. Awkward as they may be, they are a right of passage to an LDS child, and they teach you so many things in the realm of social graces. Even I went to stake dances as a youth though I didn't go to church. Church dances are a must in a child's upbringing. Saturday night was Kameron's first stake dance. This was not the much looked forward to and anticipated event like it was in Reilly's life. Kameron's feelings were along the lines of sheer dreading it. But...go he must. So begrudgingly off he went to learn to be a gentleman, dance in social situations, practice civility, and etiquette. As Kameron is a child who unfailingly does his duty he went and tried to be a good sport about it.

He went with these two and I am not sure if they were a help or a hindrance. Probably both. Let's just say the night was NOT MAGICAL. Kameron had a rough time. I've never really thought about it from the boy's perspective before...about how hard it is to get up the nerve to ask a pretty girl to dance. I just know the sitting on the sidelines and hoping someone will ask you to dance part. Both are horribly awkward and difficult. I was raised to always dance with any boy who asked me to dance and I was hoping that the girls in our stake were also raised with that same philosophy. Who knew that Tyler and I would feel just as anguished waiting to hear if a girl would dance with Kam as we did waiting to hear if a boy would ask Reilly to dance at her first stake dance. This parenting business is not for the faint of heart!

About 45 minutes went by and then I broke down and texted Kameron to see how it was going. He replied with "Not good. I want to leave." Poor Kam. He was so stressed out and was psyching himself out and making it a much bigger deal than it needed to be. It didn't help that his big sister was trying to rustle up some girls to dance with him and humiliating him in the process. The boy worried...and stressed...and worried...and stressed...and didn't ask a single girl to dance. But the girls would not be deterred and one lovely young lady asked him to dance (a slow dance at that!) and he obliged. Turns out it wasn't so bad!! He even liked it. It did not help having your big sister documenting the momentous event by taking pictures of you while dancing your first dance but what can you do? After that he was done. He did what he came to do. Since he had finally stepped onto the dance floor and actually danced, we allowed him to come home.

Hopefully next month will go better. He seemed to take it all in stride. Especially the next day as several of his young men leaders teased him and congratulated him on his first foray onto the dance floor and actually slow dancing!! He is a dance virgin no more!! The ice has been broken. While I don't think he is counting down the days to his next dance, I don't think he is dreading it quite so much.

Adolescence. What a terribly awkward process. The boys have it just as bad as the girls...something I NEVER would've have thought possible until having a teenage boy of my own. It's rough all over...even for the parents.

I am grateful for stake dances that allow us to get all of our awkwardness out before we are turned loose onto the general public and that our teenage boy does his duty even when it is difficult, awkward, and embarrassing. I am also grateful that he ended the night on a high note...slow dancing with a pretty girl. I am grateful for pretty girls who put poor nervous boys out of their misery by taking the situation into their own hands and asking the boy to dance. Quote of the night from Kam when Tyler asked him, "So how was it slow dancing with a girl?" Kam said with a grin, "It felt pretty good." Success!!

Love these crazy teenagers of ours!!