Thursday, February 18, 2010

What to Wear???

Poor Lexi was up all night vomiting, which means, of course, that I was up all night as well. Every time I dared to drift off to sleep, Lex would throw up again. Or Brooklyn would wake up crying that her eyes hurt, or she'd wake up coughing. Or Lex would come in my room and say something like, "Mom. Mom! Mom, are you awake?"

"I am now."

"I don't feel well," Lex moaned.

"I kinda figured that out when you threw up for the 8th time and your spleen came out. Can we go back to sleep now?"

Brooklyn seems to be feeling a little better today, but Lexi pretty much slept all day. On the bright side, this is a terrific diet for me. I can't bring myself to eat for fear that I'll get her puke germs. I want my stomach to be as empty as possible should that happen.

And Kimmy is still in the hospital. Savannah's making cookies for her right now.

Here's the post I started writing last night before Barf-O-Rama 2010 started.


So, a couple weeks ago, Austin nonchalantly informed me that a girl had asked him to Turnabout and he had said yes. I was so thrilled because

A. apparently Austin isn't so weird at school that girls completely avoid him (I guess he saves his weirdness for his brothers and sisters here at home)

B. he totally stepped out of his comfort zone to say yes and I'm really proud

C. I could blog about what an idiot I am because I have no idea what I need to do as the parent of a kid going to a dance

I'm totally new to this! I have no idea what you're supposed to do! I guess I'll be an expert by the time Brooklyn gets to high school, but Austin's my first and this is all new to me right now. So, I asked Austin, "When is the dance?"

"I dunno. In February."

What time is it? Is she arranging things because it's Turnabout, or do you need to plan things? Are any of your friends going? Are you meeting at her house? Are you guys going out to dinner before the dance? Afterward? What do you wear to these things? What color is her dress? Are you supposed to get her flowers? A wrist corsage is a normal thing to get, right? Do you need to pay for tickets in advance? Or does she pay for the tickets because it's Turnabout?"

Somewhere during the middle of my interrogation, Austin hit himself upside the head in absolute regret for ever telling me anything. I'm pretty sure he made a mental note to never go to another dance in the future. I'm positive I heard him giving Savannah the advice, "Next year, if you go to a high school dance, just tell Mom you're going to the movies with friends."

So, finally, he told me the theme is black and white and the girl's dress is black and pink. Ok, I can order flowers for that. But what on earth is he supposed to wear? I only have one friend who has a child who has gone to Turnabout. He told Austin to wear pants, a sport coat, and tie. So, I took Austin and Jackson to the mall this evening to outfit Austin for the dance. I've decided that I do not like shopping for menswear. At all. How on earth are you supposed to figure out what color pants go with what color shirt and tie and coat??? Is he supposed to wear black and white because that's the theme? Is he supposed to try to match his date's dress? Ugh, it is so much easier to just pick out a cute dress for a girl. I mean, it can be tricky to find one that isn't too expensive or too slutty, but even taking that into consideration, it's much easier to outfit a girl.

Anyway, Austin tried on the giant stack of clothes I piled into his arms while Jackson and I played hangman on my phone. Well, I played hangman, while Jackson played Make-Up-Nonsense-Words-That-Mom-Will-Never-Guess. He was happy that he stumped me with "yumtaco". "YUMTACO"!

Really, Jackson? What on earth does yumtaco mean???"

"It means that I like tacos and I'm hungry. How much longer do we have to stay here? Austin's been trying on clothes for four hours!" It was not four hours, by-the-way.

Anyway, we came up with clothes that met with Austin's approval. I double-checked with the helpful salesman who assured me that Austin looked good and I wasn't completely blind or stupid for choosing that combination of colors.

Now, what are the chances I can learn to tie a tie by this weekend?

13 comments:

Shannon said...

http://www.tie-a-tie.net/

It has video and step-by-step ins
tructions by an actual person on how to tie four different styles.

I'd gop with the half windsor. It tends to look better.

Anonymous said...

My son is going to his first dance this weekend. I dont know who is more nervous me or him. This should be fun. I have no clue either what to do.

Anonymous said...

Go back to the store and have the salesman tie the tie and loosen it. Then Austin can just put it on over his head and you can adjust it.

It will all be fine.

Lynn

Anonymous said...

I bet Joe would love to help him tie his tie. Sounds like he's not in the house but maybe his son's first dance would be something fun for him to help with. That'll leave you free to deal with the puke kids if need be!!

Kari said...

When we went to my Niece's wedding in Sept, I had to go to youtube to find a video on how to tie a tie. My husband had no clue. So, I found the video and it was quite helpful. I tied my son's tie, loosened it, and then packed it tied. Didn't have to worry about not having an internet connection in another state, so I could youtube the video again. LOL

Michelle said...

Oooo I like Lynn's suggestion. But I learned how to tie a tie from my dad and umm you just do it? It's not TOO hard. I think. Way cool for Austin - take lots of pictures like that good embarrassing mom that you are!

Dawn said...

Thanks for the video, Shannon! Great idea!
And yeah, you would think Joe would want to help him with the tie. You'd think.

Suburban Correspondent said...

Khaki pants and navy jacket/blazer fit almost any occasion for a boy.

And this line here: "it is so much easier to just pick out a cute dress for a girl"

I bust a gut laughing. Just you wait...

MaBunny said...

Oh I remember school dances! I hope Austin has a good time. I also hope you post pictures. Good luck with the tie.

Viv said...

Wait - you're scared to eat because of the vomit germs but Savannah's taking possibly germ-infested cookies to the poor kid who's in hospital? Nooooooooo......

Anonymous said...

Oh Dawn. I'm sorry you're having to deal with puke (and everything else going on in your life). I can't do the puke clean up either.

I can't separate from my husband, for this reason, as he is on clean up of all nastiness: puke, poop, blood, dead animals...you get the picture.

Hoping everyone gets better soon, and it doesn't make the rounds through the whole house.

Keep up your positive and funny spirit.

Missi said...

I have no clue how to tie a tie either. My hubby tried to show me once & I blankly stared at him & said "I'm a girl, I don't need to know that". Hopefully he'll be around when our son has his first tie dance or I'll be googling it too, lol.

Be sure to share pic's of Austin.

Lisa said...

Im sorry Dawn but I think your kids vomit more than any other kids on earth!

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