Daughters 8th grade formal?

My daughter has her first 8th grade formal coming up in 2 weeks. Now she has a dress by quite honestly I just can't afford to shell out the money for the rest of what she wants. We are a comfortable family but things are tight.
I already bought her a dress and shoes and the tickets but hair/nails/makeup and lots of other expenses I just don't have the extra money and I can't see spending it on this dance. I feel bad but how do I explain this to her. She's too young to work and when my 2 older girls went to their proms and dances they paid for EVERYTHING on their own. I would love to give her the world but how do I explain that's it. My older girls are away at college and I have done all I can to keep them together.

Answer:
You are a good mother, but she must understand that you can't affored this. I think its great that you got her the dress she wanted. Let her know that you would be happy to help her with hair or make up but that you can't pay for it to be done. (also if you go to any mall they will sometimes do make up for free (or you might have to buy something). But you have to sign up early for that. Just explan it to her, she should understand. Tell her prom is what she should go all out for :) but still she should save for that, you should not have to pay for it.
Ask her older sisters to help her by doing her make up and hair. I bet they do there own all the time, so they would be good at it. Not to mention it would give her some quality time with her big sisters.
eighth graders dont need to go to formals... in two or three she can get a job, THEN go to a formal at school with her own money. i support you 100% do not buy anything else
tell your daughter the difference between a prom and formal. what I would do is to look around for some of the hair and makeup schools and see if they do services. When my sister was getting her hair and makeup done my mom told her to go to the beauty school and have them do it. It was very cheap and it looked good, it just wll take a lot longer because they have instructors helping the students. so no worry about getting a lowsy job either. another thing, have her pack her lunch, assuming she is paying for lunch at school, at allow her to use the money for the hair and nails. it is a very good learning opportunity for budgeting finances.
You can throw a small party the night beafore with all of her friends and let them do eachothers, you can have it like a mani-pedi party. u can spend a couple dollars on chips dip, pizza, and to save money go to the dollar store and buy nail polish and foot scrub! It is a great idea! Also tell her how you are running low and how you will make everything perfact for her senior prom! Also she could go to a make-up counter for free. at macys,nortstrom, ect.
-Hope It works out
P.S
I did this whan I was a teenager!it was sooooooo... much fun!
You can do her nails, hair and makeup at home or you can splurge and let her get her fingernails done at a salon if she pays half. If she is requesting a limo, see if several parents want to go together and split the cost of it as a surprise. Does she expect dinner before hand? Invite her and her friends along with their dates to your house for a "fancy" meal that you and her friend's mothers can make.
What kind of a formal would an 8th grader go to? Maybe you have your priorities wrong for allowing her to go. Don't feel bad that you can't buy what she wants. She needs to learn to be grateful for what she has until she can buy her own with her own money.
Don't buy her anything else i agree she needs to learn the value of money it doesn't grow on trees. Good luck and God bless
What is there to explain. You are the PARENT!!

This is 8th grade (and at my school where I teach, our principal nixed the "formal" for a more casual age-appropriate party).

Simply tell her that getting hair, nails, etc. is something she can look forward to for HS. but just isn't necissary for an 8th grader.

And give her a spa treatment yourself at home.

If she doesn't like it, she doesn't have to go.
maybe for the hair nails and makeup you could take her to a college and usually the cosmology classes are always looking for people to practice on. I've never done that personally but i know people that have and they were pretty satisfied... and its dirt cheap. and if you still can't afford that then make her do her makeup on her own and she can do like a loose wave for her hair... that's in style... and if she is embarrassed or something her friends don't have to know just pay to get her nails done and you'll be set
You dont need to shell out heaps of money. Let family do her hair and makeup.My daughter has a year 7 formal this year and the dress code is non expensive clothes.Formals should be end of high school onlynot in between grades.

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