The Olden Days and Growing Up

Cassie went to her first formal dance last weekend. She looked absolutely beautiful and had a fantastic time. Times are sure different, though. When I went to a dance, my mom often sewed or rigged my dress, my cousin did my hair, and I painted my nails if they weren't all chipped off from playing the piano. Cassie and I went to the mall and found her dress for a great deal, if I do say so myself, and it only took going back and forth between two stores three times to make a final decision. The Monday before, we went to Sun Valley so Uncle Jared could file and polish her teeth and fit her for a bleaching tray (angling for favorite uncle status, hee hee. Thanks, Jared! We love you!). The day of, she paid to have her hair done at a salon even though I had offered to do it for her. I'm pretty sure I could have curled it like the hairdresser did, but she didn't believe I could, I guess. The funny thing was that while she was getting curled, it literally poured in sheets of rain. I was shopping across the street, and Shaina called me to ask me to go to Target and buy an umbrella so Cassie's hair wouldn't be ruined going from the salon to the truck. I probably could have figured something else out, but I was wet and tired, so I just went to Target and got the dang umbrella.

I went across the street and tried to open the umbrella to get me and my wet clothes into the salon (didn't really need to bother), and guess what? It was broken! It shot straight up when I pushed the button, but it wouldn't open, and it had a hole in the top. LAME! Of course, Cassie was in a hurry to get home and change before her date picked her up in thirty minutes, so Shaina and her friend Rily forcibly stretched the dumb umbrella out enough that they could stand on either side and hold it over Cassie's head while she made it to the truck. They then handed me the wet thing, and I trudged back to Target to get a refund. The funny thing was me, standing there sopping wet and dripping, plopping a broken umbrella down on the customer service counter. The customer service gal couldn't even meet my eyes. Uh, sorry, was about all she had to say.

I made it home just in time to see Brent taking pictures of Cassie and Jeff and to say good-bye as they walked out the door. Ah. Yet another event in my children's lives that makes me realize that the days with my children home to enjoy are numbered. I loved the talks in general conference today about finding joy in the now. Looking back, I never thought I would miss the dirty hands on everything, the crying in the night, everything that goes with having a house full of little ones. I do. While having older children has its perks, and my teenagers are great kids, on weekends when I see my beautiful little girl in a grown-up dress walking out the door with a young man, or when my son comes home to visit from college for the first time, I realize that I didn't enjoy my time with them as little ones as fully as I could have. Oh well. Look forward, as Pres. Monson said, don't look back. Enjoy the now. I will.

It seems like just yesterday that I was going to high school dances; although, looking at pictures like this, it doesn't look like yesterday, does it? (My first formal dance --Sweetheart's Ball 1983)