What are your children dressing up as for Halloween?
Now that my kids are getting older, traditions are changing a bit at our house. Two of my kids are teens (my "bigs"), and two are younger (my "littles", or more precisely, one "little" and one "tween"). And having two teens in the house is changing things.
When my bigs were young, our Halloween costumes followed the usual themes....kitty cat, pumpkin, astronaut, pirate, teddy bear, princess, baseball player, fairy, firefighter, knight, lion, witch, etc. Oh, and at one point, my oldest son went as "Everyone's Worst Nightmare....an IRS Agent."
Although we encouraged non-commercial, non-media costumes for the most part, we did give in sometimes and had Madeline, Harry Potter, Tigger, Thomas the Tank Engine, various superheros, and Star Trek visit our home a few times. (Yes, we keep a list so we can remember who wore what which year! This is really fun to look back at.)
We also had a couple of cool themed years. A couple of times everyone (including littles) went as someone from Peter Pan (Peter, Wendy, Captain Hook, Tinkerbell, the Crocodile). That was precious, especially the Crocodile. That cute little reptile is now a hulking teen with a deep bass voice and a bottomless appetite, but I'll always remember him as the Croc with a Clock.
My personal favorite was the year they all dressed as a Star Wars character, along with some good friends (we had Princess Leia, the Emperor, Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, and a Clone Trooper. I tried to get the toddler to be an Ewok but she wasn't having it). That's a picture I treasure now.
They were so adorable. Oh, how I miss those days!
This year, one teen, the "tween" and I are going to participate behind the scenes in a Haunted House. The other teen is going trick-or-treating for the local food bank with a club from his school, and DH and the youngest will tag along to help supervise. After that, we'll take them all for a brief round of trick-or-treating in our old neighborhood, just enough for the littles to show off their costumes and get a little candy.
Sadly, Halloween costumes have changed now that my bigs are teenagers. I find that their teen "hipness" vibe has changed the costume choices of my littles, even though the bigs are no longer dressing up. Know what my littles are going to be for Halloween?
The "tween" is going to be a Barrel of Toxic Waste. Yes, toxic waste. Sigh.
The "littlest" is going with a non-princess theme for the first time since she was a baby. For years it was All Princesses All The Time, although the last two years the princesses had combined with other themes and became a Cowboy Princess and then a Ninja Fairy Princess. But not this year.
Nope, this year she's going to be.......get this.......a Zombie Bride.
Yes, both of those were completely THEIR ideas. No teens tried to "hip up" their ideas or anything. Yet just having 2 worldly, hip teens in the house changed their expectations and visions.
Sigh. Although these are pretty funny and precious in their own way, I have to say I miss the old days! I may never see a sweet, "unhip," plain-vanilla costume again till I have grandkids. Wah!
Although it's wonderful to see my kids growing up and becoming such fine big people, every so often I get all misty and nostalgic for those "little one" innocent-joy moments. The bittersweet nature of being a parent, I guess. Sniff.
Well, Happy Pumpkin Day to you all. If you still have littles, enjoy the sweetness and innocence of these days. It will pass all too soon into zombies and toxic waste.
this made me misty eyed! I love your blog.
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