Friday, October 22, 2010

I don't actually hate Halloween.... but...

Two years ago, my youngest daughter developed her own Halloween costume and had a bit of a creative crisis because of it, but came through with pride and pleasure. The whole event struck me so funny that I turned it into a little piece for the Toronto Globe and Mail's Facts and Arguments page, published last year on October 30th. I called it, "I hate Halloween," but really, I don't. Hate Halloween, that is. I have enjoyed most Halloweens as a mom. It's just the costume crises I hate.

After 2008's costume success (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/facts-and-arguments/i-hate-halloween/article1344324/), I thought we might be on a roll. For the second year in a row, Julia was a smash with the costume we built out of a box last year. As we made our way around the neighbourhood, not only did we see a couple of girls dressed as laundry baskets, but when we arrived at one door, a neighbour called her daughter, saying, "Come quick, here's the little traffic light everyone has been talking about."

These successes seem to have gotten Julia's creative costume juices overflowing. In the past year, she's mused about all sorts of possibilities for next week's costume, coming up with ideas about everything from alarm clocks to ballpoint pens. I listened to each suggestion and countered with, "and how are you going to do that?" and she would give me elaborate explanations, to which I'd reply, "that's an interesting idea. We'll have to keep it in mind."

About a month ago, Julia made her decision from among many ideas, and put in an order for some cardboard boxes. I brought a couple home from the cardboard corral at the SSVP Distribution Centre, and she insisted we get some bristol board from the dollar store. She and her dad set to work, and soon the costume was finished. She was very excited... until this week when a friend came over to play and saw the costume, spoiling everything in a way that I didn't understand. When I questioned Julia, her answer was that someone might copy her original idea like last year's laundry basket girls did, and then it wouldn't be original anymore. She insists now that she needs a new costume... and we have only a week to go.

I don't hate Halloween, really. It's just I rarely get through it without some sort of headache. Stay tuned.

No comments: