By DEB GRUVER

Staff writer

Third grader Emma Partridge didn’t need to think long about what she liked the most at Peabody-Burns elementary school’s Winter Wonderland dance.

“The music,” she said, quietly.

She also liked that her sister helped her get ready. She wore a red dress with gold accents.

Emma and her best friend, Alexa Dutton, stuck close together at the Saturday dance. Alexa wore a light pink dress with gold accents.

Their mothers make up half of the school’s PTO.

The four moms decorated.

They brought food.

They danced with their children in the school’s gym.

“It’s our first year doing this as a Winter Wonderland dance,” Clarissa Dutton said.

The school used to have a daddy-daughter dance.

But not all children have a daddy who’s active in their lives, just as some children don’t have a mommy active in their lives.

So, after having to skip any type of dance during the height of COVID-19, the women decided to change things up.

Their husbands helped.

“We do have to give our husbands credit because when we have crazy ideas, they show up to help,” Mollie Partridge said.

Hope Reynolds and Jenny Hurst — the other half of the PTO — agreed wholeheartedly.

The moms also agreed wholeheartedly that they need more parents to serve on the PTO.

Anyone interested in doing so may contact Sutton or Partridge through the school.

What are Alexa and Emma most looking forward to at Christmas?

“Family,” Emma said.

“Darn, I was going to say that,” Alexa said.