The Ex Problem

   Last Saturday night, I went to a birthday party (yes, people my age still have birthday parties). There was food, dancing, singing, laughter, photos, the usual. So I was with some of my girlfriends, enjoying myself, feeling like a dancing queen, laughing at some jokes that are only funny on late nights, singing with a fake microphone in my hands, and then, through the crowd, in mid sentence, I saw....my ex.

   Oh great. Not that we're enemies or anything, but after our 6 month relationship (which is a long time for high schoolers), we didn't end on a good note. At all.

   Now whenever I see him, I'm not sure whether to avert my eyes or pretend I don't see him or try to look extra pretty and giggly or wave and smile. It's just this uncomfortable phase, and neither of us seem to know what to do. We do know one thing: neither of us are talking to eachother. Normally this awkward stage after relationships ends after a month or so, then it's just over. For us, it's not so smooth.

It's been 9 months.

    It would be easier just not to see him at all, but going to the same school, a small school, doesn't make that possible.

So we just continued or odd routine of not talking to eachother but taking turns staring at one another across the room. And we probably will continue it for a long time to come.

Homecoming Dance--no creative title sorry

So, Homecoming is this weekend. I can't exactly say I'm excited. I mean, the music is terrible, the dancing is nonexistant, and I know that there will be a ridiculous amount of grinding going on.

For those of you who are thinking, "Grinding? What is grinding? Like cheese?" I have some very sad news for you. No, grinding is...well...it's awkward to explain. It's a girl rubbing her backside up against a guy's frontside. Yeah. Awkward. And kids do it and call it dancing. Trust me, it's not dancing. It's disgusting. Especially for freshmen to see a bunch of seniors grinding, it's quite scarring for a naive 14-year-old.

And besides averting my eyes as fellow classmates try out grinding for themselves, I know that I will experience severe disappointment upon watching the dance floor clear out at 11:30 so people can go get drunk at afterparties.

And even worse, on Monday morning, I will see extremely hungover faces all day and hear bits and pieces of stories about wild parties and how "John had 4 shots in 3 minutes" or how "she threw up all over the floor" or even "then we had sex."

Yep. That's all normal conversation the week after homecoming. And I will have to hear all of it and turn away in disgust. Even my friends, good people, good kids. Even they will fall victim to peer pressure and will eventually give in.

Now you see why I'm not all that excited for this weekend?


So, now you ask what you are supposed to do about all this?
Well, you can
  a) make your  child stay home from the dance (which is kind of cruel)
 b) let your kid go to the dance and go to whatever afterparties he/she wants to and let them suffer the consequences
   c) let your kid go to the dance and one after party that you approve of---talk to the parents of the kid who is hosting the party, or have your kid call you when they leave the dance and when they leave the party or even every hour to make sure they're okay


I would say C is the best option, but it's up to you.
I'll let you know how it all goes.