Ricky had a lot of fun the last week of school. The 6th grade teachers have great traditions – faculty vs. 6th grade softball, Lagoon Day, overnighter at the Environmental Center, a talent show … but it all starts with the 6th Grade Dance.
The sixth graders had been learning how to dance for the last several months…few line dances, a big circle dance, and some simple swing dance moves. The room moms get together and decorate for the dance and provide refreshments. I wasn’t a room mom, but I snuck in on the fun anyway!
The last several years they have done a neon theme for the dance and this year’s room moms just did the same. They rent black lights and it does turn out looking pretty cool. I added some wall posters with year book sayings on them (the one on the right is one of mine).
Even the food comes in neon!
No party is complete without balloons (I’m posting this not so much because I think any readers care, but more for reference for the next dance I may be asked to help with!).
The room did look fun with all the black lights. There was also a dance light going – one that flashes different colors.
The kids had dance cards that they filled out before the dance began that morning. Ten partner dances, ten different partners.
It may have been the sweetest thing I’ve seen! The boys went to get their partner for the dance and then lead them by the arm to a spot on the floor and danced. Ricky brought his first partner right in front of where I was sitting. He actually brought almost all of them over close to where I was – I was glad I wasn’t an embarrassment to him!
See 3 minutes of some of his moves … HERE. (In the last clip, there is a mom shaking her wild thing – she’s our very good friend. And I may have sent the clip to her husband immediately after the song got over!)
This one is from the circle dance they did.
Watching him dance was so fun. He was pretty good at talking to the girls occasionally and even smiled a few times! Seriously adorable! (and someday he’ll hate that I used that word)
I wasn’t allowed to take a picture of him dancing with one particular girl … so I sent my friend on a reconnaissance mission!
Ricky would find me and smile or wave. I think that was almost as adorable … my son liked having me there! Several of the other moms told me how surprised they were by that because their kids were practically hiding from them!
The teachers did a great job teaching the kids. These are two of the 6th grade teachers … Mrs. Porter, Ricky’s teacher, is on the right.
Perhaps even more fun for me, and more endearing, was when Ricky came to get ME! They were doing a “freestyle dance” and he seemed unsure of his moves. So I went out and bopped around with him at the end of the song. I didn’t think it was a big deal, until the Hokey Pokey came on – Ricky caught my eye and started waving me out. I wasn’t going to stay, but when your 11 year old son wants you to come out and dance with him, you most certainly go out and dance with him!
He also pulled me out for the Chicken Dance. That one involves some spinning of a partner by the elbow. A few other boys saw me dancing with Ricky and came and elbowed their way into partnering with me for a few swings too! Then he had me come out for “Jump Around.” I jumped and jumped and jumped around! He smiled, I laughed. I got high fived by several 6th grade boys afterwards. And the next day I realized how rusty my jump around had become – I might have had a few sore muscles!
It was such a fun event to not just witness but to participate in with Ricky! I love that he loves me and that he is okay with me being there and that he WANTS me there! Junior High is coming and who knows if that will continue. Someday I may hear, “Moooom! No!” but for now I’m eating it up!
Here are some of these neat kids having their “after dance party” – also known as lunch!
