More than a little time has passed since the last post, which I have been reminded about repeatedly, since the responsibility naturally falls on me to write about the Daddy-Daughter Dance. Becca would have graciously written this post (which would have meant that you could have had a much better reading experience at least one week earlier), but I volunteered.
I have to admit that I had no idea how big a local Girl Scout Daddy-Daughter Dance could be. But first, let me describe leading up to the event. Earlier in the day of the dance I visited the local florist while running errands to order some small corsages (yellow for Emma and pink for Hannah), which equally surprised the girls that they were going to wear real flowers on their wrists – and that Dad could remember their favorite colors.
We dressed in our Sunday best, had our hair done nice (this especially took me some time to get a few just right), I put on their corsages, and we posed for pre-dance pictures before leaving for the dance. On the way out I told myself to have them home by 10:00 pm to make the whole experience feel even more authentic.
The thought crossed my mind as we drove to the dance that we may have gone a little overboard, after all, this was just a Girl Scout dance. This was quickly dispelled as we rolled into the parking lot and saw girls and their fathers filing into the event hall who were equally, if not more, decked out than we were. At the entrance we stood in line for “dance pictures” before being escorted to our table near the dance floor. I could not have been more wrong in my earlier thinking!
Looking back on the night I can honestly say that I had a genuinely great time. I only knew one other father, but that wasn’t important because I spent the whole night dividing my time between the two girls. Besides the uneventful dinner, the dance was the main attraction. More than 60 lively Girl Scouts crowded the dance floor for nearly every song, screaming, jumping, squealing and enjoying themselves.
Their actions seemed to demonstrate that having boys at a dance is not required to have a good time (if only I could instill this feeling for 12 more years). In fact, as I sat along the wall near the flowers I noticed all the other fathers lining the perimeter of the room observing the same mass hysteria and thought to myself that this would be a much different event if it was a Father-Son Dance (I honestly don’t even think this would get past the planning stage. Whereas the girls held hands, skipped around in circles, hugged, and danced in pairs to the cha-cha, I can’t imagine boys doing more than jumping on each other).
Another thing I noticed while holding up the wall was both the variety and familiarity of the music. The DJ kept the girls excited with dance classics like Macarena, Cotton Eye Joe, Bon Jovi, and what DJ could survive at a Girl Scout dance without Jonas Brothers or High School Musical? Even more interesting was to watch my fellow fathers sing along to every word.
I know this has rambled on, but I can’t end without describing the different personalities of Emma and Hannah.
Both are outgoing, fun and lively – characteristics needed in dance partners. However, once we picked up our food and Hannah had taken a few bites she got up from the table and started for the dance floor. I asked her where she was going (noticing that the dance floor was empty) and she said she was ready to dance, even if it was by herself. In other words, Hannah didn’t eat much and danced the night away. As I turned to Emma to ask if she would like to accompany her sister she asked me if I thought they would serve dessert. She eventually did dance – but only after all of the courses.
As I mentioned above, I had a wonderful time watching the girls, dancing with them (yes, the wall eventually released me), and above all spending such a great night just for them.
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