Daddy Daughter Dance

This past Friday our church held a very cool event for the girls four to twelve years old and their fathers. They put on a Daddy Daughter Dance with a dinner, corsages, music, and of course a glass disco ball. It was a lot of fun, despite trying to keep both my dates, Sadie (4) and Lynlee (6), happy.

For the first dance of the night they played "Butterfly Kisses"--that one always gets me. I was feeling pretty good about myself, because for the first time in my life, I had two girls cutting in and fighting over me on the dance floor. For the next song, I think they played something by Milley Cyrus. As soon as the song changed all the girls turned, left their fathers, ran into the middle of the floor, and started dancing and singing with each other.

This coordinated act by these small females gave me flashbacks to my youth. I remember going to the church sponsored youth dances and watching packs of girls dancing with each other. This, of course, left me and a host of other awkward young men on the outskirts of the dance floor doing our best to act cool.

As I looked around at the other fathers, it was like being transported back in time. Why is it that girls will instinctively dance with each other? I had always thought this was learned behavior, but for most of these girls this was their first formal dance. Could you imagine a group of boys dancing together in a similar situation? I'd imagine everyone would stop in their tracks if such an event took place--I think these boys would have some serious explaining to do at school the next day.

*****

“Hey Leroy!”

“What up?”

“You were sure light on your feet last night! I had no idea you were such a graceful dancer! Do you think you could teach me some of those moves?”

“Sure, boyfriend! By the way, do these dancing tights make my butt look fat? …”

*****

Doesn’t really flow does it?

Anyway, my dates did circle back eventually. OK, I offered to throw in some tosses and spins if they'd come back and dance with me. I'm not proud of the bribery, but it was a step in the right direction from my days as an awkward youth.

At the end of the night I tried to lock up some commitments for high school prom. Lynlee wasn't sold on the idea but Sadie gave me the knod. They grow up so fast, and it was awesome to see so many happy girls to be on a date with their dad, I'm going to miss these days!