I took Sofia to the father-daughter dance at our parish last weekend. She’s four, and it was the first of these sorts of events for both of us. I had a bit to learn. Mid-afternoon on the day of the event, I posted a Facebook status update saying I was looking forward to the dance. A friend asked if I’d gotten the corsage. Corsage? Do people get corsages for these sorts of things? All of a sudden I realized I’d given no thought to the scope of formality of the event. I went corsage hunting, and decided to wear a suit and vest instead of a sport coat. Good thing. Not just because the dance turned out to be pretty formal, but also because I better matched Sofia, who Kris was dressing in a beautiful black and purple gown. It was a beautiful event, and we had a great time. Sofia’s a dedicated and tireless dancer – so that’s what we did, with breaks for snacks and punch. I also broke by lifelong boycott of both the Chicken Dance and the Hokey Pokey. Luckily, nobody was shooting video of that. I couldn’t help getting misty eyed a few times as I watched her dance. Because aside from having a great time together, father-daughter dances also help give little girls a preview of what they should expect and demand in terms of courtesy and respect from their dates when they get older. And that night it was easy for me to imagine her a teenager, even a grownup with a life of her own. It’s ironic how during moments we feel kids, we also miss them most deeply, in anticipation of having done our jobs as parents well; training them not to need us anymore.
By the way, that Abba song Sofia’s grooving to in the video always, always reminds me of her mother, who I seen tear it up on the dancefloor to that song on more than one occasion. Sofia’s still just a dancing princess compared to her.
Nice duds. What a sweet couple! I covered our local Valentines Father Daughter dance for the paper for a few years running and it was so obviously a special night for both daughters and dads. I got so many great photos. And I enjoyed watching the dads be good fathers. You are right about teaching girls what to expect from the boys in their future.
Thanks Amy! I’m already looking forward to next year’s!