Years ago, my kids would get all excited when the older girls in the neighborhood — their babysitters — were headed to prom.
We’d go out to see them off, get pictures and marvel at how they looked like princesses. Then, as the prom-goers were just beginning their evening, we’d head back home to put the kids in bed. (Oh, how I loved the days when they went to bed when the sun was still shining.)
It seems impossibly long ago and just like yesterday all at the same time.
Last week, my three teens all went to prom. Those little cuties posing with the neighborhood princesses have now grown into prince and princesses themselves.
I was wishing, however, I had a fairy godmother to work her magic so I could see them all off to prom, because it was no simple affair.
Between the three of them, they had three different locations for pre-prom pictures. I took Maggie in one direction, my husband took Lilly in another, and Adam got dropped off at his date’s house (a friend he knew from before the days of the top photo). As I was snapping pictures of Maggie and her friends, pictures from the other photo shoots were coming in on my phone. It was as close to seeing all three as I could get.
Maggie and her friends at Chartwell Country Club in Severna Park.
Lilly and her friends in Old Ellicott City.
Adam and his friends at his date’s house.
During the night we got a few texts. One informed us that a date had gone home because he wasn’t feeling well. Another asked what time pickup was. Could it be later? Still another let us know that one sister could bring home the other.
When the night came to an end, they all concluded it was a success — at least as good as a prom can be. The music wasn’t great but the food was. Almost everyone danced. None of them won anything big at the after party. They were all home by 3:45 a.m. — safe and sound. That made it pretty magical in my book. Maybe I have a fairy godmother after all.
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FranklyStein is a blog by Chesapeake Family Life editor Betsy Stein, who lives in Catonsville with her husband, Chris, and four children, Maggie, 18, Lilly, 16, Adam, 16, and Jonah, 12.
