A month or so ago, the girls brought home invitations from church to their first ever Father Daughter Dance.
They were so looking forward to it, as was J!
They purchased their tickets and were ready to go.
Unfortunately, a week before the big day Big Sis got sick. I mean, really really sick.
I thought a week would be long enough for her to get well, but not so. The poor thing was miserable. She had a headache/stomachache, horrible joint pain, red spots from head to toe, and ran a temp of 101-102 for seven solid days.
After 4 trips to the doctor and a battery of tests, we still have no idea what mystery virus made her like this.
Although her spots were beginning to fade, she cried when she woke up with a fever the day of the dance and knew there was no way she could go.
This is one of those parenting decisions that isn't super easy to navigate.
We debated:
Should J and the other girls go anyway, leaving just one girl disappointed instead of three?
After all, we want each girl to know how much she matters independently, and that J would take her to the dance even if she were the only child.
But on the other hand, could they really leave Big Sis behind and go party it up knowing how sick she was at home?
I think maybe the situation would have been different if Big Sis had had to stay home just because of a cold or sore throat or something. But she was clearly in need of some major TLC.
J sat down with the other girls and held an open discussion.
No one wanted to miss the dance, but they could also see that their sister needed some love.
So the decision was made not to go to the dance - but instead, to bring the dance to us!
That is, after all, one great benefit to having a somewhat large family. We're a built-in party all by ourselves! :)
Plans were hatched and everyone was on board.
Younger Brother got to work stringing Christmas lights over the back patio to create a suitable venue.
The girls and J dressed up just as they would have, and of course, got the honorary pre-dance pictures taken.
Because the dance was here, Baby Sis was able to attend as well.
Bubby wanted his picture taken with Daddy too.
I have no idea why he chose to wear a three-sizes-too-small dragon suit, but he loves it, so whatever.
DJ Jazzie Younger Brother gladly accepted the roll of DJ for the evening.
He compiled a dance playlist ahead of time and streamed it through the Ipod docking station he scored at a garage sale recently. He even included a few songs from Big Sis' favorite, Sara Groves. Not exactly YB's music of choice, so that was love!
Princess A and Baby Sis were the first to hit the dance floor, but they weren't alone for long!
Dragon Bubby decided to set up a concession stand selling imaginary popcorn. But his customer service was sorely lacking. Sometimes he'd hand over the popcorn but other times he'd just yell, "No popcorn for you!" and send you to your room.
He tired of that pretty quickly and decided to showcase his true talents on the dance floor.
He's a dancing machine!
Who knew?
It's a good thing J's back is better than mine at the moment.
If we were uncertain about our decision, we weren't anymore.
~
It was already shaping up to be a great evening, but it was only just beginning.
Chef Biggest Brother prepared dinner for everyone and dutifully sampled the punch.
Then it was time for a brief intermission.
Everyone came inside for dinner, and J read the girls one of his favorite poems.
Then it was back outside for more dancing.
It turns out Bubby is really good at doing the robot! He gets this blank stare, faraway look in his eye and it's hysterical.
He was very serious about teaching Baby Sis his trade.
I don't think she was paying attention.
Another hidden talent - he plays a mean, classic rock broom guitar! I had no idea he was such the life of the party.
Speaking of, there was another surprise contender.
Biggest Brother needs to attend a lot more wedding receptions!!
Can I just take a minute to say, I love this kid's self confidence and that he has never gone through that "too cool" phase of teendom. I mean, props to him for spending his Saturday night in a chef's coat, lip syncing into a sippy cup like a boss, and making his sister smile.
J and I finally got one slow dance together, though it was surrounded by the usual brand of chaos. And at one point, Bubby jabbed us with a broom handle and shouted, "No kissing!"
The party continued into the night.
(Photo credit: Big Sis)
(I have no idea what Baby Sis was doing here, but I'm glad the bucket says "clean".)
By this time, just about everyone was worn out and headed for bed.
Just about.
I was not the least bit surprised by which family member was the last one dancing!
And with that, Daddy Daughter Dance 2017 was a wrap.
And it was most excellent in every way.
