16 Again

Saturday was Peachie’s junior prom. She was in the home stretch - nail appointment, hair appointment, make-up. I was doing what I was told to do - pick up boutonniere, pick up food for after prom party, put up tent at friend’s house where why would all be sleeping after the party, charge all camera batteries.

We all arrived miraculously on time at her friend’s house for pre-prom pictures and hors d'oeuvres. Most of the girls she has been friends with since she was 3 so we knew all the other parents quite well. In many ways we have grown up together - having kids, sitting through elementary school plays, middle school band concerts, high school heartbreaks, pee wee leagues through varsity sports. Somewhere along the way we all became responsible adults.

The kids all packed into the stretch limo and we all followed to the downtown hotel to watch the “walk in” where the prom was held. Once that was over, one parent asked “what does the limo do now?” Apparently nothing. So since we had already paid for the 6 hours of limo time, we decided to put it to good use.



Fourteen of us piled into the SUV limo and started tooling around town, pretending to be rock stars. We stopped at a casual restaurant to get something to eat and enjoyed the looks of people wondering who these aging “celebrities” were. We played with every button inside - music on, music off, windows up/down, open bar/ close bar, intercom on, etc. We were going to take it through a Dunkin’ Donut drive thru for coffee but decided it was more fun to park and “be seen”. We all got out. We all climbed back in, collecting stares everywhere we went. And meanwhile we were all giggling like school kids.

Then someone said they needed to get home. One mom needed to get ready for the party, another had an early up for a commitment the next day. Yeah, 10 o’clock and we were all pretty much tired.

It was fun, but it takes a lot of energy to be 16 again.