This past weekend was Homecoming weekend at my kids’ high school. It hit different for all three kids.

The boy didn’t seem to care at all. He hung out at the Homecoming festival a while, but mostly because it happened during what would normally be class time. As far as the dance goes, it was barely even a blip on his radar. He was content to stay home, eat pizza, and play video games. Admittedly, I was the same way at his age, although I think I went to a friends house and we watched movies and then Headbanger’s Ball on MTV. You know, ’cause we were cool.

But as the song says, it’s different for girls. And my two girls couldn’t have handled it much differently.

First there’s Tessa, the eldest. She’s in her Junior year, and is a social butterfly. She’s one that’s able to navigate multiple different groups of friends, from her Theater troupe Thespian friends to the friends she has made through dance, those she knows through classes only, and her girly-girl friends. Through it all, she remains her genuine self. While each group no doubt gets a slightly different version of Tessa, she is always authentic, and remains true to her own spirit in spite of whatever slight tweaks each situation may demand.

At some point Tessa fell in with a group of rich girls. Well, they’re probably not really rich, but they are certainly a step or two up the economic ladder from us. One of them even lives in a nearby gated community. These are the girls she goes to the mall with, and who’s parents take them all on weekend trips to the lake. They have sleepovers regularly, and go as a group to all the school functions. This is the group that went to the Homecoming dance.

These girls all spent time picking out their dresses, and doing each other’s hair and make-up. They took all the obligatory pre-dance pictures with the obligatory poses. They went to the dance, hit the floor for the best songs, and, of course, had a sleepover later. Oh, and they stopped at Yogurt World too, because what kind of a special night would it be without it? They had a blast. Tessa loves the chance to get dressed up and be a girly-girl from time to time without the pressures of having a job or performance to do as well. I’m glad she was able to have the experience.

Then, there’s Melody.

Mel is not the social butterfly her sister is. She has friends and is well liked, but it’s different. Mel likes to keep to herself a little bit more. She’d rather have a few close friends than be pals with everyone. Not that she’s antisocial or anything, she’s just a more private person. And it’s okay.

Well, as you can imagine, the thought of the Homecoming dance didn’t quite excite her the way it did her sister. She’s not as into the traditional ways of thinking when it comes to this sort of thing. Still, I’m sure she felt some sort of obligation to mark the occasion.

So she did. She got her friends together for an Anti-Homecoming party.

Melody’s friend group are all of like mind in some ways, in that they are all fairly individualistic, non traditional, non conformists with strong personality types. They are outsiders, but I mean that in the best way possible. To quote Emily Bear (Fozzie’s mom) from “A Muppet Family Christmas”, “They’re weirdos…but they’re nice weirdos.” My kinda people.

Anyway, the plan was that they’d all get dressed to the nines, and purposefully not go to Homecoming. At first, they were just going to come over to the house and hang out, but I thought it would be a shame for everyone to get all dressed up and not have any cool pictures to share like their peers did from their Homecoming night. So I spoke with Melody about it and we decided there was only one thing to do.

Photo shoot at Wally’s!

For those unaware (or who missed my blog post on the subject), Wally’s is the Mid West equivalent of Buc-ee’s. They are very similar, except that Wally’s is a little bit more quiet and unassuming. Because that’s how we roll in the Mid west, baby.

Anyway, I loaded these kids up in the van, gave them control of the music, and carted them all out to Wally’s (roughly a 25 minute drive), where they got to goof around and play with the cheesy toys on display, and try on the silly hats, and fill up a bag with frontier style rocks, which made Mel’s bestie happier than anything. They all picked out various foods and a few fun gift shop items. We also had a photo shoot where we took pictures at the Wally’s wagon and the RV, under the giant neon sign, and they all wanted a “jump shot” which would have been cool if anybody actually jumped at the same time or got any air at all. Oh well. White kids can’t jump I guess.

There was also an ill-advised attempt to get all five kids into a photo booth, but the less said the better.

All night long there was lots of laughter and a bonding experience for all involved. Then back to the house for some cheese cake and everyone left happy. Many photos were shared on Instagram the next day. Anti-Homecoming was a success.

Here’s the coolest thing though. Reading through this, you would think that Tessa and Melody are such different people that they wouldn’t have much in common, but you’d be wrong. They’re best friends and truly loving sisters, which makes me a proud Dad for sure.

Thanks for reading MonDavers. I hope you have lots of good times with good friends too, and family as well. Take care of yourselves and I’ll see you next time!