JP/ /prom
Of prom nights and cheesecakes
Hooray, vacation time! Great, time with the family. I spent the first few days loafing around while trying to confirm, to borrow from Christina Aguilera, what the girls want, what the girls need. Number 1 had a pretty fixed schedule: graduation day and prom night. No. 2 had a hair-raising list: When do we go rafting and bungee jumping? Are we going mountain climbing, can I start my driving lessons? Ma, let's make a cake!
Ok. Hold on. Then girl no. 2 starts loafing around while I juggle the countdown to D-day of graduation and Prom Night, and take her spinning around the shops for the cream cheese and other fixin's for our first ever homemade cheesecake, as mom concealed her ultimate dread, which even outweighed the anxiety felt before doing an interview with the dashing President of Afghanistan.
The cake turns out funny; mom collapses after a hot day at the market and daughter is left to the challenge all by her daring self.
The back page of the very smartly designed recipe book said "Failure rate? Zero!" So we must have missed the fine print: "Read recipe over and over again, and the exact measurement of the baking tin is on one of those front pages!"
So mom issues encouraging words to the aspiring chef that she has learned a considerable amount, though one self-styled expert in the house spells out her merciless verdict of "hopeless" when consulted on how to save lots of very green and very minty substances, for what was supposed to resemble the lovely photograph of the Chocolate Mint Cheesecake.
In the meantime, we need to rush last-minute preparations for graduation day and prom night which of course requires two drastically different costumes in events three days apart. Organizers of the prom said the event may be delayed, but the tailor may not be as flexible.
Once again mom and daughter, this time No.1, take a spin around the shops, again with mom's concealed, ultimate dread of having to be the only available fashion consultant without an ounce of experience of any prom night whatsoever or any other function requiring an out-of-the-ordinary, ultra feminine outfit; a fashion consultant with only a vague notion of the difference between shocking pink and fuschia, surrounded by very helpful shop attendants running around showing you hundreds of shades of "light pink", and "dark pink."
Then we're at the tailor, who of course raises the question of such a late date (one excuse was a sudden change in design). Then she neatly slips in the question, "By the way, which school are you from?" before pointing to a very pricey dress, recognizing, you think, a school with many parents with huge disposable incomes having spent just US$20 in monthly school fees.
I had to nod at the price, envisioning another hot run in the sun looking for alternative tailors or costumes, while still thinking of green cakes and other plans.
After the tailor was paid, gone were the budgets for matching shoes and accessories, but thank heavens for teen magazines, daughter recalls some tips and creates her own fabulous footwear with definitely shocking pink feathers.
By this time I've given up on what moms are supposed to do and attend graduation day. Leave that to dad (he needed the enlightenment: "What's a prom night? Why do parents have to attend graduation day?") so I could take no. 2 out of town before she went out bungee jumping God-knows-where (actually, with God- knows-who).
On the eve of graduation day I get the flu, maybe after plunging into packing for the beach immediately after the last hunt for the last accessories -- the chopsticks, for the hairbun, not the noodles! (Another relevation for the instant fashion consultant).
Anyway the moral of the story is; for those who have not, get your leave! Not only do you get some quality time with the family, there are lots of lessons in life out there. For me one of them was, never assume the toes are an easy testing ground for nail polishing, especially if your last nail job was over 15 years ago. All my hard work to contribute to graduation day, at least with a nail polish by beloved mom, was entirely wiped away completely with all the blotches and jagged edges.
At the very least, we can now offer you lots of really lovely chocolate mint cheese-cake flavored ice cream. That's where the abortive cake went, the freezer!