Sunday, October 31, 2010

Running to Halloween!


I do enjoy Halloween!  But, it's not the candy, or the decorations...it's the costumes!  I'm a little competitive, just a little.  A few years ago I worked at a school that actually had a Halloween Parade for students and teachers.  ( I say this with sarcasm, because my current school doesn't allow this time-honored tradition - too many tests, not enough time for fun!)  I worked with a "gentleman" who always came up with great, original Halloween costumes.  I got it in my mind that I could beat him in the Costume Contest.  (Silly me!) 

So one year, I bought vampire teeth, (and the denture adhesive it takes to keep them in) and fake hair and skin glue so I could have a realistic moustache and beard.  Listen to that again - I actually glued hair to my skin!  Did I win...NO!  He showed up with actual computer chips hot-glued to his face and he was some kind of Techno-Devil!  He won!  

The next year, I got all Martha Stewart and dressed up as a mummy!  Now, I didn't just tear some bedsheets.  I took Martha's ideas and tea-dyed cheesecloth, made a brown gooey paste for my face to keep the cloths adhered.  I looked fantastic!  And guess what?  I won!  He was absent that day.  It was a bittersweet victory - but a victory all the same!


So, now I have to live through my kids.  Baby Boy always comes up with interesting ideas for costumes.  This Boy is not a "store-bought" costume kind of kid.  In fact, we've never bought a costume for him.  Here's a list of costumes we've created:
1.  Rainbow Ghost
4.  Dirt Devil Vacuum
5.  Road Construction Sign
6.  "Male" Box
7.  Magical Mystery Box


Baby Boy won the school costume contest for 6 out of those 7 costumes.  I was thrilled!  (It's so sad-that feeling of validation a parent feels when they their child wins something!)

My motto is:  Give me a cardboard box and a glue gun and I can create anything!  Actually I have a secret weapon.  My Dad!  My dad is the handiest man I know.  He can build anything as long as he has a plan.  So, every year around Halloween I tell him our weird ideas and he cuts, saws, and assembles whatever we need.  He doesn't ask any questions either, which came in very handy one year.  That particular year, I worked for a boss who I truly believed had a "stick up his butt".  So, for my costume I asked my dad to make me a stick that I could attach with a belt.  He did.  I never showed him the photos from that costume...

Sadly (or luckily for me) Baby Boy is in 7th grade this year and they don't dress up at school.  I've got to be honest - after 6 straight years of winning - I'm tired of creating these costumes and living up to my high expectations!  I know it's wrong, but I love it that the the parents at school talk for years about my kid's costumes!

So, my only Halloween costume this year is for Baby Girl.  This Girl is a store-bought costume kind of girl, but when she saw her brother winning every year she wondered why her costumes weren't winning.  I gave it to her honestly - "It's because you won't let me make your costume!"  She heard me, and wanted to win much more than she wanted her independence (what kind of girl have I raised?) so when I started making her costumes, she started winning! 

Here's what she has been lately:
1.  a Motorcycle Rider
2.  Fisherman in a Boat
3.  Roller Coaster Rider


This year we worked on a Snake Charmer on a Flying Carpet costume.  We were lucky again this year and she was a Costume Contest winner at school!  

So, what are you over-achieving, time-stretched moms (just like me) making this year?

2 comments:

  1. These costumes are crazy awesome! Well, now I know who to turn to for ideas for next year!

    ReplyDelete
  2. You rock! Will you make my costume next year?

    ReplyDelete

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