Every kid loves Halloween right? I myself am a super scaredy-cat but I still enjoy Halloween. Funny faced pumpkins, costumes and trick or treat..candy right? As a kid I especially loved carving the Jack O’Lanterns, and eating the roasted pumpkin seeds, stuffing scarecrows and transforming myself into something not so… me. As a shy kid that was a gift of sorts. I grew up in rural Northern New York. Halloween wasn’t so much about the candy. Oh sure I love candy, as much if not more than most, however, we really did not have a place to go door to door trick or treating. (Cows don’t give out candy on Halloween)
Instead on All Hallows Eve we would put on our handmade costumes, usually overtop our winter coats(It was NNY after all) and pile into the car. We would then spend the evening stopping at the houses of relatives and family friends. Showing off our costumes and getting a treat in return. As you can imagine this was not a quick door to door fill my bag with candy in a short hour. No, this involved “visiting”. Now, as an adult I can appreciate how grandparents and the like would be delighted with a visit from ghouls and witches on Halloween. As a young child it meant, listening to adults chat. And me answering questions awkwardly while I overheated in my winter coat, which I was wearing under my costume. On these Halloween visits we generally did not score candy, although I must confess when we did it was the regular size. Often the people we visited made homemade treats, cookies, popcorn balls, and the like. I understand from the adults the popcorn balls were amazing. It was just never my thing, so I gladly handed them over.
What I loved about Halloween was the creativity of it and the imagination, I could be whoever or whatever I wanted to be. Every year my Mom or Grandmother made my costume, I can remember being a witch, and Raggedy Ann. One year my brother was a skeleton, he actually glowed in the dark. But year after year all my brothers and I really wanted was a store bought costume. We begged for them but to no avail. Finally one year my parents gave in, and we got store bought costumes. I was Casper the Ghost. Mind you this is the 80’s. Everything was made out of plastic, as was my costume. The plastic costume was thin like a garbage bag, kind of in the shape of a poncho you would pull over your head. I do not think it had sleeves, which was probably just as well because it would have never gone over my winter coat. It just hung on me and flopped around in the cold river wind. Gone was the comfy cotton my costumes were normally sewn out of. Side note here, flimsy plastic does not keep you warm on a cold NNY night.
It was such a let down. To top it off as any kid from this era knows the costume came with a mask. Which of course was also made of plastic and had a rubber band attached to keep it on your face. There were two eye holes that you could see out of only if you looked straight ahead, which made walking a hazard. The mask also came with one really useless teeny tiny mouth hole. My brothers incessantly tried sticking their tongues through the mouth hole. It was so tiny you could only get the very tippy end of your tongue through it, and then it was such rough plastic it hurt to even try. To say the least the costume, mask included was not that comfortable. What I remember about that Halloween was being so excited to finally get those store bought costumes and then terribly disappointed and cold wearing them. Oh yes and the masks looked ridiculous with a winter hat on. I am sure we never asked again for store bought costumes and I also do not recall ever telling my parents we were unhappy with them.
Fast forward to my first Halloween as a Mom. That Halloween my daughter’s Aunt and Uncle sent her a pumpkin costume, so cute. But at 6 months old she wasn’t so very sturdy in it and she kept rolling over. Still super cute.
From that year onward, I have made Halloween costumes for my girls every year, with a few exceptions. Past costumes include, a skunk..one of my favorites, Little Orphan Annie, a poodle, a peacock, of course a myriad of princesses, even one carrying a frying pan, and a pirate.
As they have grown older they have become more transformative and creative, choosing to be a golden phoenix one year, and black angel the next, also dressing as a white witch, Mother Nature, a cactus and the queen of water…yep she insisted there’s a queen of water. Last year they went as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, but one Dorothy in color and one Dorothy in black and white. Watching the faces people made when they “got it” was really fun.
Semi-unknowingly it has become a Halloween tradition in our home to make their costumes together. By early October, sometimes before, our sunroom turns into costume central with glitter, sewing essentials and hot glue everywhere. So often these costumes have to be done piecemeal. and of course costuming has to be done in our spare time, fit somewhere between school, work and extracurricular activities. Very often the entire process takes a good month. Pieces are searched out, purchased and amended until they are just right. The year my daughter was Little Orphan Annie a red curly wig was not to be found. We tried several different methods to make a blonde wig turn red, until we were semi successful. Seems every year we learn a little something new, like tulle with glitter spreads glitter everywhere, and body poofs when untied, make great jellyfish, and poodle hair. Also, you can never have enough hot glue sticks.
If I haven’t already said it, my kids are far more creative than myself. They have become more helpful and involved as the years have gone by. This year my oldest pretty much made her costume without me (I did some ironing of cut outs). I must admit it made me a little sad to lose that magic in creating together. On the upside, my oldest was really hands on in helping her sister create and put the finishing touches on her costume. It was nice to see them working together. I guess that is part of what makes it all so special to begin with, working together and having to problem solve. Trying different things or thinking outside of the box to get it right. Believe me every year there are “discussions” when we are building these costumes. Often because Mom is a bit more realistic about what can be done while my girls are the dreamers, and have that creative vision they are trying to make work.
Sometimes you just have to trust the process and believe it’s going to all come together in the end. And in the end, every Halloween I am so proud of our costumes, even when others don’t quite get what they are dressed as, or when I am following behind them picking up pieces of feather or ribbon or cacti. It is one of those traditions we have created for ourselves that we all look forward to each year. That and the roasted pumpkin seeds from the Jack O’Lantern carving.
Happy Halloween,
Missy
missy.pallop@capturethemagicvacations.com