My mom is not a fan of Halloween. So, I don't have many Halloween memories as a child. I sort of remember some plastic Barbie get-up (I mean costume) one time, complete with plastic mask with the squinty little holes for eyes. No photos of that darling gear, however. The most memorable Halloween, of course, was the year I dressed up as Laura Ingalls (gee, I'm a fan!) and made my mom drive me to my teacher's house, and then home. That was it. I trick-or-treated to one house and I went home. That's all I wanted, anyway. I still have the wig my mom made - a pink bonnet with brown yarn braids. I sooooo wanted long hair as a kid (you know - like Laura!). And I never had the patience to grow it long. I loved that pink bonnet with the pretend long locks!!!
I paid no attention to Halloween as a teenager or as a young adult. I think I dressed as a 'tree' one year when I worked at WalMart in college - brown legwarmer knit pants, a sweater, and a leaf pin. Can you say: Creative! Maybe I started to care about Halloween a little more when My Man and I moved to our house, and I piled straw bales on the front porch with corn stalks flanking the sides. My husband LOVED disposing of those after the cold weather came. (HE ROCKS, btw.) Or, more likely, once I had kids I became more interested. My mom changed a little too (OK, a LOT) since the grandkids arrived. One year, she so closely resembled a (good) witch in her costume that when the twins returned to our front door from their candy expedition, they wouldn't come inside! (oops!)
(Last year she read the Kindergarteners the FABulous book Big Pumpkin while in her garb. Baby S has changed a lot, eh?)
Here's the deal: Halloween can be cute, fun, and creative. But it has a dark side that I just don't like. And that's where I draw the line. I keep my sweet black (striped) kitty inside during the month of October. I'm serious. And I keep my Halloween cute, fun, and creative. Wanna see what Baby S will be for Halloween this year??
Is that cute or what?! Yeah, we've got Queen Amidala, Luke Skywalker (VIth episode, People - if you know StarWars, you know what I mean...and if you don't, like me, actually, you'll have to ask why T will be wearing his black Karate uniform, like I did...), and Darth Vader, of course. That's as spooky as we'll be getting around here. And you all know Darth Vader turns away from The Dark Side in movie VI and stands alongside Yoda and Obi-Wan in their live forever after-life form. You all know that, right? Right? Tap-tap Is this thing on??
