So, last weekend was prom for Wheeler High School, here in Valparaiso. It goes with the usual accompaniments: Buy dress, buy shoes, borrow purse from Mom (but only after your date arrives to pick you up), nails, make-up, hair, photos, grand march, and finally the dance itself. We have a long standing tradition here at the Haldeman house of me doing my girls’ hair. I’ve been known to do make-up and nails too, but I always do their hair. I always thought that it was just because I’m cheap, or maybe that’s why it started. I also always thought that I was the only one taking note of the tradition. This prom, I offered to make an appointment for Tessa to get her hair done. Tessa looked at me with an odd facial expression. She said, “But Mom, it’s the last dance. You do my hair. It’s our thing.” I seriously almost cried. All this time, I thought that I was cheating my girls out of something by not paying to get their hair done, when maybe, just maybe, despite all the difficulties that come and go when raising teenagers, they felt the same way about the time spent doing hair and make-up for dances as I did. It’s our thing. Don’t get me wrong, hair is a very physical thing. There’s tugging, teasing, pulling when braiding, re-dos, more re-dos, and even more re-dos. It’s two hours of super intense quality time. And my girls have to be realistic about the outcome. I’m not a hair stylist. We never, and I mean never, have the outcome that is in the picture that we are aiming for. But, for me, there’s nothing I’d rather be doing. And it turns out, my efforts must be good enough. In fact, better than good enough because “it’s our thing.”

Although, it turns out that last weekend wasn’t the last dance, because Tessa is also going back to Lisle for prom at her old school with her good friend Nate. And she is also going the weekend after that to the prom for Valpo High School because her friend Amelia is going to Valpo’s prom and she wanted Tessa to go because she doesn’t know anyone at that school. I tried to argue that, as a foreign exchange student, it wasn’t that long ago that Amelia didn’t know anyone at Wheeler High School, but it seemed like I was trying to discourage Tessa from doing a kind thing. So, for the first time in Haldeman history, I will do the last dance hair three times. I’ve never had to come up with three hair styles in a row, so I’ll keep you posted on how things go.

I have already decided that the girls will get their hair done by a professional if or when they get married. I know I won’t stand up under that kind of pressure. For now, I’ll just enjoy the time with my youngest daughter for her three last dances. If Taryn feels like she got cheated, I’ll do her hair just for fun. And just like that, I feel the march of time again…