A Night of Firsts

Last night our fifteen year old not only had his first date but he was also attending his first ever formal dance with her.  In the weeks leading up to the high school JROTC Military Ball there were lots of discussions and reservations on his part as to whether or not he was going to ask a date to the dance.  This formal gathering was mandatory for all students enrolled in the JROTC program and for a while he was reserved to the idea that he was going alone, stay for the opening ceremonies and then call for us to pick him up.

Of course my husband and I encouraged him to find a date and to enjoy the dance. About one week before the dance he'd finally confessed that he hadn't asked a date because he was embarrassed to have one of us drive him to pick her up then to the dance.  After a long talk explaining to him that everyone goes through this when they first start dating and that we would not be loading up the entire family into the van to take him on his date he seemed to relax a bit and was on the lookout for that special someone to ask.

Now I feel that I need to explain that this is a huge feat for him.  In the past he has always had problems socializing when it comes to kids his age, he doesn't facebook, he doesn't text, and he certainly doesn't email.  In the afternoons and on the weekends he is usually reserved to playing video games, watching television or playing with his IPod.  We literally have to force him out of the door and give him specific instructions as to what to do if we want him to go outside.  In the past six months that he has been living with us he has climbed over mountains when it comes to his social awkwardness and has become involved in a few after school activities and has made a few friends. This mandatory school event was a true test for him and I have to admit that not only did he survive it but he finally let his true self shine.

Ok, so back to the week before the dance.  Dalton was at school and had been asking around to see who was still available to go.  As he was beginning to loose hope that he wasn't going to find a date she found him.  Apparently she was another student in JROTC and approached him with her sister while he was waiting for the bus after school and yes, she asked him to be her date.  He was so excited when he came home from school that day. He walked in the door with a huge smile on his face, a skip in his step, and wanted to talk for almost an hour.  In the end he informed me that while he was elated that he had a date to the dance he'd also made arrangements with her for them to meet there instead of us picking her up.  As it turned out this was also her idea.

So the day of the ball arrives. He has his white dress shirt and bow tie to wear with his JROTC uniform and he's getting ready.  Now of course we have the boy so getting ready didn't start until an hour before he was supposed to be at the event.  After taking his shower and eating some dinner our 15 year old took his next steps toward manhood.  For the first time ever he was in the bath room and shaving his face.  For you see, over the past few months he's finally developed a small moustache and didn't want it to look bad for the date or taking pictures.  Then after shaving and getting fully dressed another first happened.  He combed his hair! That's right, combed it!  This kid never combs his hair.  Then again to my astonishment another first!  He puts on cologne!  OMG! Is this really the teenage boy who normally couldn't care less about his physical appearance?!  This can't be the same kid that we often have to remind to put on deodorant!  What in the hell is happening?!  Oh right, a girl. LOL

So with barely a few moments to spare before he has to run out of the door and get to the ball (sounds like Cinderella in a tux right?) he was ready to go and I was able to snap a quick picture of him.  We definitely had to document this night.

The Military Ball lasted until 11:00pm.  Dalton had taken his video camera with him so that he could document his night. By 11:20pm he was home and ready to tell us all about his night as well as show off the pictures and video that he'd taken.  As it turned out he did have a good time and as the video will show he did let his true self shine.  While his date didn't turn out quite the way he'd hoped and he'd decided not to pay for the pictures that were being taken at the ball he did end up dancing with several other young ladies and made the best of the night.  So for his first date and formal event we are left with a quick picture of him and his date that was taken in the hallways of the high school and a dark video of the kids and eventually Dalton doing some disco dancing. If you watch the video closely you will see Dalton move into the frame around the 34 second mark and take his place in line next to his date while they show off their disco fever.