When I was a child it was so much fun to dress up. I was an angel one year a cat another. I was a raggedy ann doll once and a belly dancer. The "scariest" costume I ever wore was a witch outfit. Trick or treating was fun and there was so much excitement in the creation of costumes from thrift store finds and boxes of dress up clothes long forgotten during the year. Going out after dark and meeting friends and neighbors on the street are what memories are made of.
When my children were little it was a joy to dress them up and follow them down the street with my hot toddy in hand. I dressed them up as prince and princess, a farmer, an old lady....using dress-up clothes or clothes from my closet or taking a fun trip to a thrift store, paying a few dollars here and a few dollars there to create something out of nothing.
Going back a few years...here are my oldest two as Siegfried and Odette from Swan Lake.
As the kids have gotten older Halloween has become more of a day to dread than to look forward to. It seems that every year the costumes get more and more gory. My little niece and nephew either don't go out at all or have to go trick or treating really early so as not to be terrorized by the crazy costumes kids are sporting these days.
I wrote the above on Halloween day and the stress of last minute costumes and such made me a crabby bah humbug mom! The week was filled with stressful events and by the time Saturday rolled around and with it Halloween, I was ready to snap. We left the house at 12:30 p.m. to go to Home Depot for dryer ducting which would suffice as arms for my sons robot costume. Then to the local thrift store because they sell new packaged costumes and my teenage daughter hadn’t thought about a costume until that very moment. Then home to help put together costumes and prepare the toppings for the chili our friends were making for dinner. I was feeling a little overwhelmed and out of time as we drove into the Home Depot parking lot. I was driving our newly purchased 2006 Toyota Tundra which I haven’t adjusted to yet. It is such a hunk of truck compared to my Honda Odyssey that I have been driving for almost 10 years. The parking lot was filled with shoppers who had postponed their Home Depot run on account of the snow storm.
I never know how much space I have when pulling in to a parking spot especially in the new truck. So I usually over compensate and back up and pull in but this time I was cranky and impatient. I gently, ever so gently eased in and bumped the bumper of the car in the next parking spot over. I haven’t hit a car or anything since my first accident a week after I got my driver’s license. I haven’t even gotten a ticket for a moving violation. Now I was really cranky! I wrote the owner a note and left it on the windshield. There was a message when I got home. It wasn’t until Tuesday morning when I wrote the owner a check for $200 to cover the damage that I was able to finally able to put it behind me!
I still don’t like Halloween and how it has become more of a commercial holiday with the kids wanting to purchase pre-made costumes. I was thrilled that my son created his own robot costume out of boxes and paint. We did buy the dryer ducting for his arms and neck but that is all part of the creative process.
I have to admit even with my fender bender and the stress of the day it was fun to get together with friends over chili and a glass of wine. I sure needed it!
Just a couple of photos of...
No comments:
Post a Comment