On the flip side ....

Son #1 is going to the "Winter Formal" tonight. He's such a stud-muffin that a girl asked him to go. Last week. So he's had a week to be ready -- the way a guy is supposed to be ready.
This was a conversation ---- TODAY, around noon:
Me: "So, are you ready for tonight?"
Him: "I guess so."
Me: "Did you get a corsage?"
Him: "No, it's not really a date."
Me: "Um, so? Didn't the two of you discuss this?"
Him: "Yeah, I think she wanted one, but .... well, when I went to order one they weren't taking any more orders."
Me: ---voice starting to get a bit higher here - "Did she get you a boutonniere?"
Him: "Yeah, but don't worry, I got something better than a corsage."
He then walks over to the fridge and pulls out a small vase with two roses in it. He holds it in front of me, looking very smug.
Me: --- nothing. I don't say a word. I just look at him.
Him: "What?"
Me: "Nothing. You haven't asked my opinion - you're just telling me what you're doing so I have nothing to say."
Him: "So, what's your opinion?"
Me: "Well, my opinion as a female is that you're in big trouble."
Him: "What?! This is SO much better than a corsage!"
Me: "Yes, that's your opinion as a male. As a female, which is what your date is, my opinion is that she's going to be pretty upset that she's not going to have flowers on her wrist, or pinned to her dress, like the rest of her friends. You, however, will have a flower pinned to your jacket, which will make her wrist feel painfully naked. Yes, actually the roses are better because she can set them out and look at them longer, but she won't be thinking that. She'll be thinking how ticked she is that she asked a guy who couldn't even manage to get her a corsage, when he knew she wanted one! That's my opinion -- as a female."
Him: "Well, what am I supposed to do? When I went in today they didn't have any."
Me: --- the realization of the situation slowly dawning on me .... and the realization that, no matter how hard I tried, I have failed something in being the mother of a son ------ "WAIT! When did you FIRST try to order a corsage?!"
Him: --- knowing that he has been caught and suddenly not feeling so smug --- "Ummmmm, today."
Me: --- again, nothing. Words would not form in my mouth.
Him: --- "I had a busy week. I forgot."

After expressing my disbelief that he didn't take care of this earlier, and telling him to please learn from this and to never, ever do this again, I had him call around to see if he could find a corsage somewhere and told him that I would pay for it (no way was I going to let that girl go to the dance without a corsage because she asked my goofy son!) because I knew the price would be astronomical on the day of the dance ..... and it was.

So the flip side of having girls get ready for a dance is having a boy --- who doesn't.
(As an aside -- it really is easier to have boys when dealing with this "dance stuff". And he did manage to wash his car and go get a haircut. So he's (read "me") not a total failure!)