Well, friends, we just made
it through another season of high school proms. Whew! Congratulations, everyone!
I’m pretty sure I've talked
about this before, but for those who aren't aware, the Craigs are a home
schooling family. My oldest still isn't old enough to date, but I have to say
that my very favorite response from people when they find out we homeschool –
and this has actually happened more than once – is when they say, “What about prom?”
Yep. You just read that. What. About. Prom.
Folks…I know we are all doing
what we think is best for our children; but if the single purpose for your placing your children in public school is specifically for prom…then I’m going to
admit it – I’m a little bit afraid of you.
PROM?!?! I know that
according to Disney’s High School Musical
3 prom is the “Night of Nights” and a “Night to Last Forever” and a “Night
we’ll never never ever forget.” But seriously,
what was your best memory from Prom? Was it choosing between the mint green
cummerbund or vest? Or posing awkwardly in front of the white pillars and
sparkly backdrop? Was it when you dented your dad's car after you assured him for weeks nothing would happen to it? Or maybe when your date was paying way too much attention to somebody else?
Sure, occasionally you hear
an adult reminiscing about prom and with fondness declare, “And that’s the night
when I came up with the cure for cancer.” Or maybe, “Ah, prom. That’s where I
had the vision for the Flux Capacitor, which is what makes time travel
possible.”
But generally, the absolute
best-case scenario is that you didn't blow all your money that you could have
used for college, and that nobody did anything that…well, that couldn't be
undone.
And when did the phenomenon begin of making Prom a 24-hour date? “Well, we’re going to start at 3 a.m. with breakfast at Denny’s, then go mountain climbing to see the sunrise then jump a plane to Sri Lanka because they have the best rice and curry, then we’re going to stop in Hawaii on the way back – to go bowling – then we’ll drop off our dates to get ready for Prom, then pick them up, then go to dinner at Morton’s Steakhouse and then probably go to the dance, then fly to New York for a Broadway musical, then we’re going over to Tim’s house to make breakfast…and then we’ll wear our tuxes to church the next day.”
According to a Time Magazine article, the average cost of prom this year was $1,139 per attendee. ONE THOUSAND ONE HUNDRED THIRTY-NINE DOLLARS – PER PERSON. Do you know what else you could do with $1,139?
- Buy a car. (Not a good one. But I bought one in college for $900 and it lasted three years.)
- Go to Europe.
- Go to Fiji.
- Build a Flux Capacitor.
So, am I way off? Did Prom change your life for the better?
