Kids Night Out

        Jacob, Sophia and I attended Kids Night Out at the Middle School last night.  Basically, it's a dance/open gym/pizza party. Since I was going anyway to "keep an eye" on Jacob and Sophia I offered to help chaperone.  Sophia met up with some of her friends outside of the school and all of the sudden I didn't exist anymore.  She took her money to get in and said goodbye to me.  I watched her standing with her group of friends with a huge smile on her face giving hugs to them telling them, "I missed you so much" (even though she had seen them all 3 hours earlier at school).   I wanted to stay right there and watch make sure that everything was okay and that no one was going to make fun of her but duty called and I had to get my chaperoning job.  Yes, it's difficult for me to let go.  Jacob and I pushed our way through the eighth grade line.  I was surprised at how small Jacob was compared to the other boys and that many were even taller than me.  Jacob was nervous and kept chirping like a bird but it was so loud that I don't think anyone heard.  I got my name tag and took Jacob to the Bingo room where he ended up staying all night.  Unfortunately, none of his friends came to Kids Night Out but he was happy playing bingo.  Sophia ran around all night with her friends having a great time.  Toward the end of the night, I saw her standing with her group of friends crying.  The girls were consoling another girl in the group who was devastated that a boy she really really liked was dancing with someone else!  The nerve of him!  Poor Sophia had no clue what was going on but she saw someone was upset and she took the cue to get upset also.  Sophia was crying because she missed Buddy.  Her grandma's dog who died over a year ago!  Yes, it's funny but it's also that dose of reality that always seems to slap me in the face.  Things were totally normal last night for Sophia.  She was at her first school dance hanging out with her friends and having a great time.  Sophia can totally fit in with her peers but there is also a side of her that will always set her apart.  Perhaps, I should be happy that Sophia doesn't understand those "growing up" problems (yet).  That she wasn't one of those pre-teen girls (and there were a few of them last night) crying over a middle school crush.  Perhaps, Mary will make up for both her and Sophia.  Sure, I enjoyed that evening of normalcy.  I know there will be many more to come for Sophia.