Saturday, January 22, 2011

Cotillion: Southern Gentlemen in the Making

It is a right of passage in the South that tweens go through some sort of manners/etiquette training.

Southern Mothers drill the basics into their children from the time they can talk and toddle:  You hold the door open for a lady, you say "please" and "thank you", you look someone in the eye when they are talking to you, you do not wipe the grease from Mothers homemade fried chicken on your Sunday pants.

In Park Cities, when you reach the 5th grade, we Mothers like to herd our darling children through "Cotillion". The definition of cotillion is "a group of young people assembled to develop, appreciate and respect their role in society through dance and social skills education". Yep, I like it.  And, for the next 6 weeks, I get a built-in date night while he's at class - BONUS!

After the first night, I asked the boy if he had fun. "Sure did," he smirked "I danced the Foxy Trot with 3 girls."  The Foxy Trot.  Awesome.  Here's a little sample of what I saw at the end of class:


I think it's a tad outdated that the girls have to wear gloves. I don't think anyone has worn gloves since 1969... but who am I to argue etiquette! I do love seeing all the boys in a coat and tie. Chivalry will never be dead!