mr. handsy

have you ever seen a more dapper fifth grader?

a few weeks ago, all of liam's whining and complaining hard work during his year of cotillion came to its very satisfying conclusion: the grand ball.  the whole thing was comical, to be honest, so while i'm not convinced our check was well-spent in terms of him learning table manners and how to correctly respond to a written invitation, it was definitely worth it in terms of giggling alone.

one of the biggest sources of humor was the juxtaposition of all these fifth grade girls with their fifth grade boy counterparts.  they entered the ballroom as couples, randomly assigned so that each young man would escort a young lady to her seat.  after that took place, the dances commenced, with the fox trot, box step, waltz, and others being performed for their parents' viewing pleasure with surprisingly skilled steps.  so it was comical enough to witness that in 98% of the pairings, the girl was noticeably taller than the boy.  but what really got us laughing was when the dance involved a twirl.  these poor statuesque, willowy eleven year old girls would have to duck under their partner's arms, as the boy would often jump up mid-twirl to clear his partner's head.

liam danced with six different girls, and only one of them was shorter than he.  a growth spurt is coming, i keep assuring him

but by far, what got everyone laughing the most was the mother-son dance about halfway through the evening.  liam and i had mastered the steps, and luckily, they had been altered so that there were no twirls involved.  (the difference in our heights might have literally been the greatest of any duo on the floor at the time.)  about halfway through our song, i was comfortable enough with the steps that i could finally pay attention to other things -- and once i did, i realized that liam's hand was not quite where it was supposed to be.  i discreetly asked him to adjust its placement and assumed we were past it ... until the song ended.  i returned to our table of friends, and was met three or four images of our dancing on cell phone screens.  it seems that liam's hand had prompted the parent paparazzi to make sure they all captured the moment.

notice the other couples in the background, whose hands were all where they should be: the waist.  it seems liam had other ideas

all in all, it was a wonderful evening and one we won't soon forget.  seeing liam in a tuxedo instead of a soccer uniform suddenly aged him five years, and watching him navigate the world of pre-teendom holding a pencil to sign dance cards was an experience likely to not be repeated anytime soon.  luckily, we have lots and lots of photos for posteriority.

i mean, posterity.