Halloween is my 3rd favorite holiday. (Yes, I'm predictable, Christmas is 1st and Thanksgiving is 2nd.) Our kids have always, always, had home-invented & home-made costumes. Our daughter is 6 years older than our son, so once Sam was old enough to trick-or-treat, Joyce and Sam sometimes went as a pair of something. We've had an apple tree, a sunflower, a zebra, a jaguar, Fluffy the 3-headed dog (H.P. fans know it), Peter Pan and Tinkerbell... When Joyce was in 1st grade, with no small influence I'm sure from my favorite CD of the moment coupled with her new-found interest in guitars, she went as Patsy Cline. All the adults loved the costume, while none of her classmates got it. It was great. Sam's 2nd grade costume was a headless man carrying his head. I love the Salvation Army store -- I felt kind of bad using such a nice black suit, but hey, it only cost about ten bucks. Last year, Sam went as a "slam dunk" -- his head was a basketball (paper mache) and around his neck was a net. It was really cool to see all the sports dads get a kick out of his costume.
I even have a "Halloween bathroom" -- our half-bath decor is comprised of photos through the years of family in Halloween costumes, trick-or-treating shots and carving pumpkin shots. Folks sometimes spend more time than "necessary" in there just to take it in. I love it.
Anyway, Joyce began shooting up in height, so she already looks older than she is, and 'round about the 3rd grade, she began getting a few comments from the (rude) folks handing out candy... comments such as "isn't she a little old". One woman in particular I just had to walk back to her house and clarify that Joyce was 9 and she should keep her unkind comments to own short self. Grrr.
That Halloween was the turning point. Soon, of course, Joyce no longer had interest in trick-or-treating, or dressing up. Since we live in a very rural area, we usually take our bags of candy into town and do our gig around the grandparents' neighborhood, so Joyce would stay at the house and help pass our candy. It is fun to see all the kiddos come up to the door.
But, boy oh boy, I sure miss seeing my baby girl dressed up for Halloween.
And to top it off, it's starting, kind of, with Sam. He's not as into Halloween this year as in prior years. I began asking him about mid-September, our usual time-frame, what he wanted to be for Halloween. He had nothing, no ideas. Until, of course, about 4 days ago when he decided to be a mummy. A Really Cool Mummy. A mummy costume is actually more complex than one might think. Nix on that. I told him too late, have to save that idea for next year. So Sam and I hit the "dress up trunk."
In our basement, we have a really old (stinky) steamer trunk that my brother gave to me. And it is overflowing with all kinds of quirky stuff for dress up. Anytime I see something weird at garage sales or 2nd hand shops or even antique stores -- where I go specifically for the purpose of looking for dress-up-trunk-stuff -- I buy it. So Sam and I thought he'd be great as an old man. We find the old red-and-cream colored pin stripe suit (circa 1970), the cream colored shiny men's dress shoes, a cane, an old hat... but then.... Sam as an old woman seemed much more interesting. With a big booty and big ol' boobs. Drooping knee hi's, big jewelry and ill-applied red lipstick, with this huge purse perfect for candy. Oh, he's just too funny. We had a test run Thursday evening because his elementary school had a Halloween walk. Socks for boobs won't work, too unstable. So that's my task today -- make boobies for Sam. And 2 pillows instead of 1 for the big booty. Since most everything came out of the dress up trunk, he even smells like an old person.
Tonight will be fun. And I know there won't be any more nights like this. Tonight will likely be our last time trick-or-treating with our kids because next year, Sam wants to have a Halloween party -- where we turn our basement into a haunted house just like we did for Joycie when she was in the 5th grade. At least next year, I can make a mummy costume for my boy.
Sniff, sniff.
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