Teatro Woodwardi

The school year is drawing to a close and Kylie is almost done with 8th grade.  I can't believe she will be in high school next year!  

Every year Woodward Middle School has an 8th grade banquet to celebrate, and every year the theme is different.  This year was "Teatro Woodwardi", in the style of "Teatro ZinZanni".  It's a pretty big deal and I have mixed feelings about it.  Lots of parents put in lots of hours to make it an elaborate, enjoyable event.  Some girls buy expensive dresses, some boys rent expensive suits.  Even though the school says there is a dress code for the event (dresses are supposed to have at least spaghetti straps and fall at or below the knee), it is definitely not enforced.  I was embarrased to look at what some of the girls were wearing.  There's no way some of them could have bent over without fully exposing themselves on both ends.   I know it's exciting to be moving on to high school, feeling like you're growing up and all, but seriously?  These girls are only 14 years old! 

I'm glad I have a practical, modest daughter.  She chose to wear pants.  I would have been fine with her wearing a cute, summery dress, but neither one of us are shoppers and she really doesn't like to wear dresses.  The thought of going out to look for a dress wasn't appealing to either of us.  My mom offered to make her a dress, and even started one, but before it was finished we all decided it wasn't going to look right on Kylie.  She borrowed a cute blouse from my mom and wore her nice black slacks.  You can't really tell from the picture how cute the blouse is, it's a sheer, lightweight fabric with some ruffles and lace.  She thought it was a little too ruffly, but I thought she looked great!

 

I love Kylie's attitude.  She wasn't afraid to be different and to be comfortable.  She knew that even if she did wear a dress, she would still be different than most of the girls.  Fortunately, her close girl friends wore dresses that were age appropriate. 

(That one girl on the end, she isn't one of Kylie's close friends.)

When Kylie got home, she was so glad she was comfortable.  She said most of the girls had to hold on to their dresses to even dance.  Kylie was able to enjoy herself and BE herself.  With that attitude, high school should be no problem!