Ellie leaves school in May, shortly after her GCSE exams start. Ellie is looking forward to the exams, it's me who's doing all of the stressing. When the exams have finished there will of course be the prom in July!
Up until the end of last year Ellie had no intention of going to the prom and even if she did she certainly wasn't going to wear a dress. Ellie used to love dresses but it has been such a long time since she last wore one, she is more a tracksuit and hoodie person so when she said she had picked a dress out to wear to the prom I was very surprised. There had been talk of her wearing a trouser suit so her even thinking about a dress had me lost for words.
I have read so much about prom dresses over the years and was excepting to pay a small fortune but Ellie is a bargain hunter and found one on Shein. She of course wants accessories to go with it like a necklace, bracelets, tights but she has said she doesn't need any shoes, she's wearing her Doc Martens with it. Here should be the place that I share a picture of the dress that Ellie has chosen and I have ordered but she wants to keep it mostly a secret until the night of the prom. This is all I am allowed to share.
It's not the typical girly, girl prom dress with glitter and sparkles but it's a dress all the same. I think it is gorgeous but I am not telling Ellie that. hehehe If I say that I love it I have a feeling she will fall out of love with it. Ellie has even got into the prom spirit by saying she wants her hair done properly, not just whacked up into a ponytail, there is talk about her wearing nail varnish too, black of course. lol
There is the tradition of the teenagers being dropped off to prom in fancy cars or something a bit different. We live in a pretty rural area so there are always a lot of tractors and farm vehicles but Ellie has asked her Granddad and he has agreed to take her in his kit car, he's even offered to wear his suit which is usually reserved for occasions like weddings and funerals.
From what I have read online the school are going all out for this years prom as nearly every year of my girls school year has been disrupted by Covid. They have missed out on so many school trips and opportunities to socialise. We worked it out that Ellie has not done a full year at school since she was at Primary school in year 6. We moved house and she left year 7 at her old school a few weeks early then Covid happened and the first normalish year was year 11 but she finishes early, before the end of the official term finishes.
As well as making the prom special the school are trying to make sure that everyone can go. Proms can be expensive so they have somehow managed to get a selection of dresses and suits donated to them so those who can't afford to pay for a one off dress or suit can borrow one. I thought it was such a thoughtful thing to do.
Have you been through the prom experience with your children? How did it go?
