And you thought preschool graduation parties were a bit much! Now some schools in the UK (and even here in the US) are holding preschool proms as a way to mark the end of nursery school, according to the Daily Mail. We're talking little ball gowns, pint-size tuxedos, a mini red carpet and even limos.
There's just so much insanity here. First of all, what little kid relishes the opportunity to put on tux? Princess-y girls who've been waiting for the day they can wear a gown to school might be a different story—but it's still hard to know whether that's even a good thing. Whatever happened to having cupcakes and juice on the last day of school to ring in the big leap to kindergarten?
Never mind that with fancy dresses starting at around $75 at British retailers (add on shoes, a purse, maybe even getting her hair done), you're spending a small fortune on a formal outfit your kid's going to outgrow in six months. Perhaps most troubling is this: How much do parents need to up the ante for actual prom if the whole limo thing's already been done years earlier? We just don't even want to know what's next.
A version of this story originally appeared on iVillage.