On the real Halloween night, we headed to the church for a trunk or treat. First, there's a back story on this costume.
In the weeks prior to Halloween, David decided that he wanted to be either Super Man or Spider Man. (I tried to talk him into being the man in the yellow hat with our cute little monkey, but that never got very far.) So I bought the supplies for a Super Man costume. When I went to cut it out, I realized that I was missing the yellow piece that goes behind the "S"--so a few hours before our Trick or Treat Town (see previous post), I went to the fabric store. They were out of yellow fleece and yellow flannel. I mulled over what to do for so long that by the time I got back to the car, I had 2 hours before we were supposed to be at the event. Knowing myself too well, I imagined what it would be like if I went home and tried to finish a costume, fed the family, and got everyone out the door in costumes in roughly 75 minutes. It didn't sound too promising in how it played out in my mind. So I texted Sam, "Try to talk David back into a Spider Man costume." and I ran into a costume shop and picked up a ready-made costume for Spidey.
David was over the moon with the costume I presented him, and the Super Man costume was pushed aside--by me, anyway. At 2 pm on Halloween, David shared with me his excitement of wearing another new costume that night--Super Man! I raised my eyebrows, and thought about putting my foot down, helping him understand that he was going to be Spider Man again, that Super Man hadn't worked out, and I thought he had changed his mind, so I hadn't finished the costume.
But once I realized that I had the opportunity to offer my boy a feeling of elation instead of defeat, I knew I had to at least try. Yes, it would be a challenge to create an entire costume in 2 hours or less, but maybe just maybe it would work out this time.
I told David the situation, and explained a little to him about why I hadn't finished his costume. I told him I was going to do everything I could to get that costume finished in 2 hours. But if I didn't, could he wear the Spider Man costume with a big smile and a grateful heart? I told him it would be difficult to pull off, but I would do my very best.
That sweet boy nodded in agreement, and luckily Alina was ready for a nap at that very moment, so I laid her down and went to work. I went to the sewing table still set up in the basement and found that all I had finished was the cape, without the Super Man insignia on it. I had 90% of the work ahead of me.
I had decided early on that if I was making a super hero costume warm enough to wear outside, that it would double as PJ's and last a long time. David cheered me on, and happily helped me keep track of supplies between my cutting area and the sewing area. Wonder of Wonders, in exactly 2 hours, we had a Super Man costume.
And that made a little boy very happy.
And that made a Mama very happy.
And that made me wonder why it's not the Mamas that are dressed as Super Heroes on Halloween Night.
Don't let that tough guy face fool you--he was over the moon with excitement about this thing.
He came up with his own poses.
Strong Muscles
With a little smile
Oh, and our monkey woke up from her nap to be part of this, too. Alina was nearly 14 months at Halloween, and still not standing on her own very well . . . so we propped her up as best as we could.
Tried to get a picture before the light faded any more, but the kids were distracted by the candy swirling all around them.
Oh, a Mama moose and her 2 babies thought about joining our party. Thankfully, they stayed in the vegetation and didn't come into the parking lot.
Once we left the Trunk or Treat, Alina fell asleep right away. We were back in a warm car, and I had an idea to let David Trick or Treat to our neighbors in our previous home. He did, and he liked it. Then he kept going while I followed him in the car. After a couple of houses, he came back to the car and said, "Wow Mom, this is working out really well, actually. Will you drive me over there where there are a lot of lights on?" So we changed to another part of the street and he kept going. I think he knocked on 15-20 doors, and look at the difference in the amount of candy between his bag and his sister's. He caught people as they were emptying their candy bowls, and I think they were glad to see a little trick or treater among the bigger kids at that point (7 pm, but it was already dark).
David's already looking forward to going back next year to Trick or Treat "at the houses, Mom, not just the cars."
Alina thought things worked out pretty well in her favor as well. She figured out pretty quickly that her bag was full of sugar.
Monkey See.
Monkey Do.
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