Great Time at Prom!

Despite the late hour, well past my bedtime on a Friday night, I thoroughly enjoyed watching our kids have a great time at the prom. It's easy to get so caught up in the day to day academic struggles that we lose sight of the other parts of adolescent education that are equally, and sometimes more, important for adult success. Balancing work (or school), family, and a social life are tough enough, but throw in the stress of discovering your identity, personality, and life's work, and it's amazing they get out of bed at all! There was a wonderful article, Cherish the Good in Your Teen, in the Washington Post last week, in which a mom (Tracy Grant) does a great job of putting things in perspective as she struggles with raising a teenager. I had a long talk with a mom concerned with her son's academic struggles as he works his way through his first serious love interest. He's actually doing it very well, and in 16 months he's going to have to do it on his own, but we as parents (and teachers) are often so anxious that our children avoid pain and suffering (and poor grades) that they never learn to be resilient, to work through problems on their own, and to ask for help when they need to.

A Prom helps put all this in perspective. The joy of spinning wildly around the dance floor with youthful abandon is just as important to kids today as it was to us 35 years ago. We've just forgotten. And how well do we as adults balance work, family, and a social life? Do you even have a social life? If so, you're doing better than I am! So if you want to see what having a social life looks like, here are some more photos from the prom.