milestone

Well, GameBoy attended his first school dance on Friday (it was a pretty casual affair--just two hours of fun and music after school let out). Though he told me that the boys don't really dance, they play ping-pong and foosball in the multi-purpose room to pass the time, when I picked him up from the dance he told me he had really danced. Just a few songs. With a group of friends. Of course I couldn't help but thinking of my little dancing boy, the one who could really get a groove on--usually wearing only winnie-the-pooh underpants, his tap shoes, and a cowboy hat--well I imagine that his dancing was a bit more subdued at this event, but it still pleases me to know that my son is growing up and having such novel experiences.

When he was getting out of the car when we got home, he told me his legs were really sore:

"Because I didn't sit down the whole time, Mom...I was socializing."

I thought of my own years at such dances: the awkwardness, the many return trips to the punch & cookies table, ridiculous party decorations to make the school gym look 'festive,' the thrill of heading out to the dance floor and the accompanying fear that I would make a fool of myself as I danced, and desperately ensuring that I was surrounded by friends--the constant vigilance to make sure I was never alone and looking like a wallflower. And, yes, the familiar ache in my legs afterwards. From so many hours on my feet.

After he got home from the dance he let us know that he had an 8 pm appointment to play World of Warcraft with a buddy.

I think my baby boy is growing up and getting a social life.