costumes

I don't remember Halloween being so much work as a kid. Oh, yes. That is because it is only a lot of work for the parents.

My mother will say it is payback for me because I once asked her to make me into a pink flamingo. She spent hours on a costume complete with a beak made from a recycled pinata and a tail stuffed with balloons to give it shape.

I bought ears and tails on Amazon for my little zebra and Dalmatian and still found it a lot of work.

By the way, whoever thinks that pumpkin carving is an activity for children is wrong. They can't draw well on pumpkins. They can't use knives without carving off their fingers. And my kids can't even help scoop out the pumpkin guts because they aren't strong enough. They sure enjoyed watching Daddy and I do all of the work for their kitty pumpkins, however.

The challenge with impressionable little people at Halloween is to have fun but avoid all of the scary. We are still figuring out this balance. This year we joined a group of Annike's friends from kindergarten and trick-or-treated around the staff housing at the local Christian high school. No creepy dark porches. No weird people walking around. No scary masks. No cars flying down the road we needed avoid. It was perfect for us.

I also appreciated Annike's school's choice to celebrate Reformation Day in lieu of Halloween. They invited all of the students to dress up in Medieval or Renaissance type costumes to commemorate the day. I found it refreshing to be given a healthy suggestion for how Christians can participate in this holiday. Instead of being given a list of "what not to wear" on this day known for its dark costumes, kids were given direction and a positive outlet for how to be a part of the fun.

Annike was a little Renaissance maiden in this beautiful period dress borrowed from a friend whose mother handmade it. She complains whenever I want to put her hair back, but this time I insisted. After all, if the parents are doing all of the work putting costumes together, then don't we get to insist on some of that parts that bring us pleasure?

Oh yes, and Baby Karsten, you ask? What was he doing during all of this on Halloween? Sleeping, of course. Like the sweet little glowworm that he is. In fact, he slept so much that I didn't actually get a picture of him in his costume until a few days later.

We will end this post with another comparison photo of my little children who have all worn this very same costume for their first Halloween, somewhere between 5 and 6 weeks old. Just so you know, my husband had trouble telling the babies below apart.

Top to bottom: Annike, Sommer, and Karsten. Love these little buggars!