Friday night, my twelve-year-old attended her first 7th-8th grade dance in her middle school gym. The fact that she wanted to attend at all was a surprise, because last year, she wanted nothing to do with the 6th grade activity days, and the final dance of the year where they allow the 6th graders to go? NOTHING. Zero interest.

So, when she mentioned that the school was holding the first dance and that she wanted to go - nay, was SUPER EXCITED to go - I was a little surprised. She's a new girl this year, in many ways. Last year she wasn't much of a joiner-inner. This year, she's in before-school choir, talking about maybe going out for volleyball, she's in an afterschool club and of course, I've got her doing those ballroom dancing/social training classes.

I'm trying very hard to take credit for this new enthusiasm for school activities, but I think it's just that she's coming into her own. She's also quite close-mouthed about any possible interest in Bee Oh Why Ess which is fine with me.

Anyhoo. She chose a pretty dress from the three she has for dance class, and got herself ready to go, and then I took her to school to meet up with her friends for the dance. When I returned 15 minutes before the end of the dance, the gym was rattling with thumping base, there were lasers and strobe lights and the din of kids screaming over the music.

Okay, first of all, my school dances? Involved a student making mix tapes and featured crepe paper streamers and maybe some balloons, and a cooler of McDonald's Orange Drink and some cookies from the grocery store. We did not have lasers. Or bass that rattled my rear view mirror from 30 feet away. Of course, back in my day (someone hand me my walker and get me my pills!) we spent the dance sullenly ringing the dance floor while a tinny speaker system played Depeche Mode. If you were "lucky" and you got asked to dance, the dancing involved awkwardly clutching the neck of some sweaty boy and waddling in a circle.

If a "good song" came on - You spin me right round baby! Right round, like a record, baby! we'd run screaming into the middle of the floor and jump up and down in a circle with our friends, assuring each other we looked really cool. Then, back to the cooler for another shot of Mickey D's finest.

I wondered if my daughter's first dance would be like that. And yep. The awkward ring around an empty dance floor. The awkward slow dances. And the frantic jumping up and down when the "good songs" were played.

My daughter said that she and her friends made up a special dance called the unicorn hula (which basically involves jumping up and down) and they watched each other do it when the strobe lights were on - and they looked totally cool.