My Favorite Prom Date!

My Favorite Prom Date!

When my son was 3 1/2, my son Jake was intrigued after seeing pictures of several high school seniors dressed for prom. He had just been a ring bearer in my sister’s wedding and knew all about tuxedos. So when he saw all the boys dressed for prom in their black tie he questioned me as to “if they were all ring bearers too?” Jake, like many other three and four year olds asked hundreds of questions every day…sometimes every hour. But this particular set of questions ended better than I expected.

Mommy: No, he is going to prom.

Jake: But he is in a tuxedo?

Mommy: Yes, you can wear a tuxedo to other fancy events too.

Jake: What is a prom?

Mommy: It is a dance that you will get to go to when you are older.

Jake: But I am older now…. so can I go now?

Mommy: No, You will want to ask a beautiful and very nice girl to go with you, and you guys can dress up and go out to eat at a nice restaurant.

Jake: oh…..(30 second later)

Jake: Mommy, you are the most prettiest girl in my whole world, do you want to go to prom with me? ….Please!……. I already have my tuxedo

Mommy: Oh yes you do from Abby’s wedding, right?

Jake: Yes, you will wear a dress and JUST me and you will go to prom….NO JIMMY AND NO DADDY!

Mommy: Jakers, I would love to go to prom with you. We will dress up and go to dinner, and then we will find a place to dance. (It might be our living room)

Jake: Yay mommy! Thank you!

After being asked to prom, it was time for baths and bedtime stories. Once I got my busy little boys settled into bed I had time to think about Jake’s conversation and how sweet it was. There are some conversations I have with Jake that I just kind of go along with knowing it can never happen; “We are never going to build a house out of ice cream with sprinkles for the roof.” This conversation was not one of them. This was a memory I wanted to create, this was a wish I wanted to make a reality.

The next day on the way to ‘school’ Jake and I talked about our prom date more, I asked him what he would like for dinner and what he would like to do on our date. His favorite meal is spaghetti so I wasn’t surprised when he answered “I want ‘ghetti’ for prom; I want to go to the ‘music in the mall, and then ride the horseys’ (carousel).” He told me “Mommy we can dance by the horseys!”…..Yes my little man, we can!

Prom Night:

Jake knew all day that tonight, was prom night. I am not sure who was more excited, me or Jake. But I got him all dressed in the tuxedo that he had from the wedding he was in, and he helped pick out the dress he thought I would look pretty in. My mom came over to pick up my other little boy so that I could have one-on-one time with Jake. We went outside to have our pictures taken….like you do for prom….and he leaned over and picked a flower. “Daddy said I need to give you a flower for prom!” If I had not already been on a cloud I certainly was floating after that.

We got our pictures, and a lot of them, Jake knew he looked handsome and happily obliged for some photos.

I decided to take him to Bella Milano in Springfield for his ‘ghetti.’ The service was wonderful and the other patrons and staff were so very friendly and sweet to us on our prom date.After dinner we moved to the mall and walked to the center of the mall to ride the carousel. We finished our date getting a gumball before going home. It was perfect! I pulled into the garage and went to get him out of the car and his sweet little voice asked me “Mommy, can we go to prom again soon?”

We had plenty of people stare at us as we walked around Springfield on a Saturday night in full formal attire, but we also had so many people that smiled at us and asked what the special occasion was; Jake was proud to tell them he was at prom. Honestly, I hardly saw the stares as I was too enamored with how happy my little boy was. I was honored to be asked on a date by one of the most amazing little humans I have ever known. I was grateful to spend special time with him and make a memory that is not-so-ordinary.

There are a lot of Daddy/Daughter dances, when little girls get to dress up and go on dates with their dad’s, well we are made our own, Mommy/Son prom! For any of you mommy’s of little boys, I highly recommend it! Jacob still talks about our prom, what he doesn’t know is that as special as it may have been for him; it was even more special for me. I will cherish that time and hope to do it again next year and eventually with my other little boy too…individually of course.

Time is fleeting, but this memory will not fade. Thank you Jake for one of the best date’s mommy has ever had!

Submitted by Chatham mom Angie Koester. Please visit Angie’s blog at http://mommyismyfavoritename.blogspot.com to follow other funny, sweet, sometimes frustrating stories of her journey through motherhood.