<p>Out of a group of 25 kids all going together to the upcoming prom, it is my D that is causing the odd number. She isn’t really showing that it bothers her that she is the only one without a date (I have a feeling that it does though, how could it NOT?), but for any parents out there that may have had this situation with a child, what special things can you do to make the event (or the preparations) more fun?</p>
<p>Is there some friend your D could ask to join her at the prom? That is what my DD did. There was a large group of friends and they wanted ALL of their friends to be there. She and a friend were a “date” but really they were part of a large group. They all had a terrific time. The friend was a junior.</p>
<p>DD1 went with a junior friend, as well.
DS and DD2 went in groups where the extra girl friend(s) and the extra guy friend(s) became ‘dates’. One of them was the ‘extra’ and had a great time.</p>
<p>One of my S’s went alone to a prom and had the best time. He arranged to sit with a group of people, all coupled, but it just didn’t bother him. He also said he got to dance with everybody there, by waiting until each boy went to the restroom and then asking his date to dance. Maybe it can work in reverse?</p>
<p>Don’t download any anxiety on her! Just give her a big confident smile, tell her she’s brilliant not to stay home for mere lack of a date, and have the best time she can with all of her friends. She sounds really terrific to me, confident and vibrant. Why worry?</p>
<p>A different approach: she might ask any of her girlfriends if they have an older brother coming home from college on that weekend, if she’d like an escort.</p>
<p>Unlike the old days, when you couldn’t go dateless to prom, many students go dateless now, and have a fine time. From what I’ve seen, couples now are more into doing group things – including with some singles – than clinging together all of the time like was popular when I was young. </p>
<p>So… I think that your D could have a fine time at the prom without a date. Better to be with a group of friends (even if they’re couples) that one knows and likes than to dredge up some kind of date who doesn’t fit in, is bored when her friends are talking about things the date isn’t familiar with, etc.</p>
<p>It can be intimidating for high school girls to ask guys out, even asking a male friend to prom as friends. If she’s in a group of 24 others, it seems likely that all of her good friends (male and female) are already in the group and accounted for. If she has a guy friend who’s a junior or hasn’t been asked, though, she should ask him. I like P3T’s idea of seeing if an older brother or cousin of a friend is available. Does she have a sister close in age who would like to join for the evening? The “date” part doesn’t matter much since most of these 12 couples won’t be very serious, but it would be great if she had someone to go with and spend the evening with. A fun, sympathetic older sister or close cousin could make for a great night, I think, and shouldn’t be too hard to arrange. </p>
<p>If they don’t already have plans, maybe your daughter would like to invite some of her closest girl friends over to your house to get ready together? Or could all the girls get together the night before to talk about hair, do their nails, and watch a movie? Anything that binds your daughter within a group, especially a group of girls, would be great, and it would probably make it feel less like 12 couples with her feeling left out.</p>
<p>Many proms now are filled with singles. I actually find it unusual that your daughter is the only one without a date. I went “alone” to my prom a couple of years ago, and it was fine, but then again I was going with a group that included other girls without dates.</p>
<p>You might ask her if you can give her a corsage…</p>
<p>Is your D active in a church youth group? I know a couple of kids at our church invited another youth group member as their guests to the prom even though the kids went to different schools. It wasn’t like a date, just like a fun night out with friends.</p>
<p>Maybe she couold invite some of the girls in the group to come home and spend the night with her after the prom so they could rehash all the events of the night together. Then have a nice breakfast (or lunch depending on when they wake up) together the next day.</p>
<p>Ask a junior that would consider going with her.</p>
<p>my D is going with a guy friend as are most of her friends that don’t have boyfriends…some girls got asked by some really random guys and very likely those dates will be more awkward than your D being a “5th wheel” as it were</p>
<p>If she doesn’t get a 'date" I suggest get a couple of other girls together and get manicures, have a nice lunch, go play at the makeup counters at a department store, etc</p>
<p>And make sure she looks FABULOUS, so the guys see what they missed!! And I promise, once the night starts, she won’t see many girsl hanging onto their dates all nights, the event flows and mostly the couple stuff happens during the pictures</p>
<p>So she should plan ahead of time to take some pictures with her gfs and one with ALL the guys from her group!!!</p>
<p>Saw two girls from last years prom do that, they went together and rounded up the guys for the photos…it was a very cute picture and the guys loved doing it, and none of the other girls minded at all!!</p>
<p>Also, you can get her something special, it doens’t have to cost alot, but be meaningful</p>
<p>I went hunting and found the perfect earrings and necklace for my D- half price at Mervyns- and it just will complete her look and her daddy will give them to her with a card saying how excited he is for her, and how amazing and beautiful she is…</p>
<p>Lots of kids at S1’s high school go in a group – in fact, most don’t couple. It’s so different now from when we were in school. </p>
<p>I wouldn’t draw too much attention to it. I remember a girl when I was in high school whose dad got her a Homecoming mum because no boy had asked her. I felt sorry for her – one, cuz everyone knew it was from her dad and two, that it mattered so much to her.</p>
<p>Just get her a gorgeous dress and offer a mani, pedi, up-do, whatever makes her feel as fabulous as she is.</p>
<p>exactly, my suggestions weren’t to draw attention to it, but to just make it special</p>
<p>as for the pictures, having fun with it actually can take the “sting” out of it</p>
<p>and as for the flower- IF she gets one or wants one, make it amazing- and i can tell you, my Ds friends wouldn’t not bat an eye if they knew someone’s dad got his D a corsage…</p>
<p>cgm, I’m sorry. I didn’t even see your response. Nothing wrong with some daddy love. Like I said, things have changed a lot since I was in high school almost 30 years ago. Back then, people would almost never have gone without a date. I like it the way it is now. :)</p>
<p>hell, i’ll go with her. it’s not like i have any ladies waiting on me…</p>
<p>My D went to the prom, dateless, with a group of friends last year. Most in the group were in couples, although I don’t think any were actually anything other than friends-as-couples. She wasn’t especially thrilled to be dateless, but she was fine. She had a pretty good time.</p>
<p>One thing happened that I felt bad about, though. D kind of blew me off when I asked about going out to the house where they were meeting to take pictures before the prom. The house was pretty far away & she made it seem like she didn’t want me to bother going all the way out there. Well … she decided WHEN SHE GOT THERE that I should have come (seems so many other parents were there). I felt like such a bad mom! In the end, it was okay, because there ended up being more than a few kids whose parents weren’t there. If I could do it over again, though, I would have gone.</p>
<p>I would never have suggested to my daughter that she drag up a date. I kind of admire her for going by herself! We would never have done that. In fact, my best friend’s mom made her go with her COUSIN … her mom told her she would regret it if she never went to her prom (hmmm, didn’t ruin my life). BF didn’t have a date, so her mom & aunt came up with the world’s most embarrassing scheme. 30 years later, she has yet to live that one down! Our kids sure know all about that fine evening!! :)</p>
<p>My D and about 4 or 5 ( girl) friends are going to the prom together.
I didn’t even ask her if they wanted to go with boys- as I think they would have more fun without 
I didn’t know she was planning to go however- until she started trying on dresses at a BCGCG( ?) outlet.
Not so much pretty and the price was not so much an outlet.
We didn’t get one yet- but she still has a couple weeks.
They were thinking of wearing their dresses they had custom made in Ghana, but since D was apparently ill ( first time I heard about it), when the measurements were taken, they had to guess hers, and it is too big. ( better than too small)
However, I think they are wearing prom type dresses- D was looking at long ones, but when I suggested short, she jumped at it, since she says she trips.</p>
<p>These girls are so impressive to me. They know what they want- they don’t change themselves to impress or flatter a boy & as far as I can tell- they don’t have an ounce of the coquette at all.</p>
<p>I did ask if she was going with anyone, and when she said no & that she was going with her friends- I said good- because then you can do what you want!</p>
<p>I felt bad for about 30 seconds, but I realized that even if I make a lot of mistakes as a parent- I have at least raised independent daughters</p>
<p>That doesn’t mean mom and dad can’t do something special for all the girls!!</p>
<p>Once at a nonprom dance, my D and all her friends got all dressed up at our house for the dance</p>
<p>I wanted to do something special, so found those boxes of those small perfumes- the real stuff- but with 4-5 different perfumes- and gave each girl one for their purses</p>
<p>It was instead of coursages, which the girls with dates got, and it cost me and another mom about 10 dollars each!! The perfume lasted longer if they didn’t have that flower, they had something special</p>
<p>rachacha - I think it is very common for kids to go alone these days. I’ve even known a boy or two to go with a group of friends. Actually the bigger the group, the less likely anyone will even notice. I hate to say it, but with a group that big, and if the big event is still a few weeks off, chances are there will be some drama within the couples and someone will wish they were in your daughter’s shoes of not being tied down to someone. It always happens… someone breaks up right before prom, or right after.</p>
<p>thats nice you did that cgm, but I don’t really think of stuff like that- and if I didn’t something for a D that I wouldn’t have, if they, had a ( capital) D-ate, I would feel like I was communicating that there was something " wrong" if they didn’t .</p>
<p>So this is their thing- they may very well do stuff like that for each other-
My D can’t smell anyway ;)</p>