A couple of weeks ago Luke, my oldest son who’s in middle school, told me on the drive to school that he wanted to stay late to go to the dance. He asked and persuaded all in one breath.
“Mom, it’s only from 3 to 4:30 and you don’t have to dress up and its $4.00 I’m paying with my money… is it okay?”
Is it okay? I thought. Awww.. my sweet boy is going to his first dance! Of course its okay. Hell, I want to go and take pictures! But all that is silent in my head. Instead I answer like this.
“Well, it sounds fine. Call me when you want me to pick you up. How exciting.. your first dance!”
He goes off to school and I go off to work, crowing to my friends my geeky son is going to his first dance. I’m so proud!
Then he calls me at 4pm from the school.
“Luke! How was the dance?!” I ask.
“The dance was horrible!! The music was terrible, the snacks were over-priced! There wasn’t any punch and they REFUSED to give me my money back!”
When I picked him up after a few questions he admitted that he did dance. That Destiny and Boaz, his friends, were there and that nothing “bad” happened (which was my worst nightmare… that he’d get picked on or harassed at a social event like this.)
But all his emotion when he called me to pick him up, wasn’t the sound of upset tears. No, righteous indignation had filled his voice (even as I tried to hold back my hysterical laughter). Because I could just imagine him going up to the student body cashiers with his list of un-realized expectations pouring out of his mouth and demanding his $4.00 back.
My own little Sheldon… unafraid to buck the system and ignore convention when it comes to his hard earned money and being “right”.
I worry a little less about his social interactions!