My least favorite day of the year is quickly approaching. Halloween. I know. I'm the only person who would just rather wake up on November 1 instead. When the children were little, it was easy to ignore Halloween. But as they've gotten older, it's become nearly impossible to ignore Halloween. Especially when my 1st grader is invited to wear a costume to school. Last year was easy. We pulled Spiderman out of the toy box, and he still thought Spiderman was cool. But I had no idea what we were going to do this year.
Sure enough Mason started talking three weeks ago about what he was going to "be" for Halloween. My original plan was to somehow invent a costume out of something we already had or perhaps a piece or two of fabric from Hobby Lobby. Have I mentioned that the window treatments I began sewing for Hannah Kate's room are still laying on my dining room floor unfinished even after the first stitch was sewn what has now been a month ago? So it's not very likely that I'm going to sew anything of a costume. Besides, that isn't going to score me any points with my 1st grader or any of the kids in his class anyway.
Last week was when Mason informed me he wanted to be Captain America. Okay. The good news is that it could be worse. It really could. Besides painting his little body a deep shade of blue, I didn't really know where to start on this do-it-yourself costume. I'm just not that creative or inventive. So when I made my weekly jaunt to Wal-Mart and the grocery store yesterday, I took a stroll through the Halloween costume aisle. They had Superman, IronMan and Batman. But no Captain America. I nearly grabbed the IronMan costume, but I knew it wouldn't suffice. So I walked around to the girls' costumes and found one Captain America costume in the wrong place. It also "just so happened to be" the right size.
So I'm checking it out to be sure everything is there. I notice the big Captain America shield front-and-center on the front of the package. Just between us, I'm pretty sure that's why Mason wanted to be Captain America in the first place. He wanted that shield. But I wasn't born yesterday. I had a sneaky suspicion, and, sure enough, in microscopic letters on the back of the package was written shield not included. Great. The costume itself was $19. And I can't even begin to tell you how that $19 was rubbing me the wrong way. Don't get me wrong. I'm not an extreme couponer by any stretch of the imagination, but I do the best I can. In spite of all that was within me, I threw the costume into my buggy. But I knew it still wouldn't suffice.
I meandered to the toy aisle to look for a birthday present and "just so happened" to find a Captain America shield. It was "on sale" for $15. I just closed my eyes and threw it in the buggy. While I made my way through the store, that extra $35 plus tax was weighing heavily on my mind. I was trying to justify it . . . Mason had such a great report card! He brought his reading score up over 4 points and had all As and Bs on his report card! And he needed to be "rewarded" for his diligence and hard work. Yeah, I'm not buying it either.
So I make my way to one of the registers and get behind another mom who had also purchased Halloween costumes for her children, one of which was a pair of camouflage army fatigues. Now I'm really trying not to be judgmental, but I was thinking, Gosh, it's a shame he doesn't have a pair of camo in his closet that he can wear instead of her having to buy that. And then I had an "aha moment." Mason has all brand new camouflage in his closet waiting on hunting season. And he's been dying to wear it, orange vest and all. So when I got to the cashier, I apologized profusely and left the Captain America costume and shield with her, explaining that I'd changed my mind.
I couldn't wait to tell Mason about my idea. I was sure he would love it! So he gets off the bus, and guess what little 4-year-old blurts out, "Mason, we got you a Captain America costume." She missed the memo. Big time. And, unfortunately, he'd already heard her. So I'm trying to shush her up, but she keeps arguing with me, insisting that we purchased the costume. It goes down something like this:
Me: No, we didn't.
Hannah Kate: Yes, we did.
Me: No, we didn't!
Hannah Kate: Yes, we did!
All of this takes place at the end of our driveway. Finally, Mason looks at me and asks, "Mama, did you really?" No, son, I did not. He hung his head and started walking.
But I wasn't finished with him yet. So I began in my most excited voice ever to tell him my idea about him going to school as a deer hunter and wearing his camouflage, even his orange vest and face mask. Let's just say he wasn't as excited as I was. He reluctantly . . . VERY reluctantly, I might add . . . agreed. And then asked a minute and a half later what he was going to be for Halloween and asked if he could be Captain America. Sigh.
So when Seth got home, I told him my idea. I was sure he would be excited. Well, as excited as Seth Bayham can get. Which isn't very excited. And, of course, he was not excited. NOT excited. Needless to say, I'm not excited anymore either. I'm beginning to think I'm going to have to go back to Wal-Mart and just hope that the one remaining Captain America costume is still there. My chances are probably very slim to none.
But then Seth has an idea . . . Mason can wear the costume that he (SETH) wore to school when he was in 1st grade. I thought he was kidding. He wasn't. In fact, he left right then and went to his mom's house to find the costume. He comes back grinning ear-to-ear. Literally. There's very little that excites him, but obviously an Indian costume that was fashioned by his really cool aunt who lived in Chicago is exciting to Seth Bayham.
I'm wasn't quite sure how Mason felt about this, but he loves his daddy so much, and he wants to be like his daddy. And, of course, we had to listen to the story about how he got to wear it to school, and it was the best costume of anyone in the class. So Mason asked if he "won." And that's when it got ugly. No, he said, he got second place. Mason asked about the first place winner. Through gritted teeth, Seth tells us about the little girl in his class who came dressed as a pumpkin and won the 1st place prize for best costume. Pumpkins are cute. Really, they are precious. But the pumpkin costume was actually one of those plastic numbers from whatever store they had back then because Seth said he didn't remember there being a Wal-Mart. It's also quite obvious that this plastic pumpkin costume has scarred him for life and caused a seed of bitterness to spring up in his heart where pumpkins are concerned.
I asked him to go back to his mom's and find a picture of him dressed in the Indian costume. And when he did, he also found a picture of said pumpkin costume. He's right. He was robbed.
Like a good sport, Mason donned the Indian costume. I'm just going to be real honest here. I'm not sure that Mason even really knows what an Indian is! But he has agreed to go to school on Friday as an Indian. Here's my little satchmo in his daddy's 1st grade Indian costume.
Like father like son.
Sure enough Mason started talking three weeks ago about what he was going to "be" for Halloween. My original plan was to somehow invent a costume out of something we already had or perhaps a piece or two of fabric from Hobby Lobby. Have I mentioned that the window treatments I began sewing for Hannah Kate's room are still laying on my dining room floor unfinished even after the first stitch was sewn what has now been a month ago? So it's not very likely that I'm going to sew anything of a costume. Besides, that isn't going to score me any points with my 1st grader or any of the kids in his class anyway.
Last week was when Mason informed me he wanted to be Captain America. Okay. The good news is that it could be worse. It really could. Besides painting his little body a deep shade of blue, I didn't really know where to start on this do-it-yourself costume. I'm just not that creative or inventive. So when I made my weekly jaunt to Wal-Mart and the grocery store yesterday, I took a stroll through the Halloween costume aisle. They had Superman, IronMan and Batman. But no Captain America. I nearly grabbed the IronMan costume, but I knew it wouldn't suffice. So I walked around to the girls' costumes and found one Captain America costume in the wrong place. It also "just so happened to be" the right size.
So I'm checking it out to be sure everything is there. I notice the big Captain America shield front-and-center on the front of the package. Just between us, I'm pretty sure that's why Mason wanted to be Captain America in the first place. He wanted that shield. But I wasn't born yesterday. I had a sneaky suspicion, and, sure enough, in microscopic letters on the back of the package was written shield not included. Great. The costume itself was $19. And I can't even begin to tell you how that $19 was rubbing me the wrong way. Don't get me wrong. I'm not an extreme couponer by any stretch of the imagination, but I do the best I can. In spite of all that was within me, I threw the costume into my buggy. But I knew it still wouldn't suffice.
I meandered to the toy aisle to look for a birthday present and "just so happened" to find a Captain America shield. It was "on sale" for $15. I just closed my eyes and threw it in the buggy. While I made my way through the store, that extra $35 plus tax was weighing heavily on my mind. I was trying to justify it . . . Mason had such a great report card! He brought his reading score up over 4 points and had all As and Bs on his report card! And he needed to be "rewarded" for his diligence and hard work. Yeah, I'm not buying it either.
So I make my way to one of the registers and get behind another mom who had also purchased Halloween costumes for her children, one of which was a pair of camouflage army fatigues. Now I'm really trying not to be judgmental, but I was thinking, Gosh, it's a shame he doesn't have a pair of camo in his closet that he can wear instead of her having to buy that. And then I had an "aha moment." Mason has all brand new camouflage in his closet waiting on hunting season. And he's been dying to wear it, orange vest and all. So when I got to the cashier, I apologized profusely and left the Captain America costume and shield with her, explaining that I'd changed my mind.
I couldn't wait to tell Mason about my idea. I was sure he would love it! So he gets off the bus, and guess what little 4-year-old blurts out, "Mason, we got you a Captain America costume." She missed the memo. Big time. And, unfortunately, he'd already heard her. So I'm trying to shush her up, but she keeps arguing with me, insisting that we purchased the costume. It goes down something like this:
Me: No, we didn't.
Hannah Kate: Yes, we did.
Me: No, we didn't!
Hannah Kate: Yes, we did!
All of this takes place at the end of our driveway. Finally, Mason looks at me and asks, "Mama, did you really?" No, son, I did not. He hung his head and started walking.
But I wasn't finished with him yet. So I began in my most excited voice ever to tell him my idea about him going to school as a deer hunter and wearing his camouflage, even his orange vest and face mask. Let's just say he wasn't as excited as I was. He reluctantly . . . VERY reluctantly, I might add . . . agreed. And then asked a minute and a half later what he was going to be for Halloween and asked if he could be Captain America. Sigh.
So when Seth got home, I told him my idea. I was sure he would be excited. Well, as excited as Seth Bayham can get. Which isn't very excited. And, of course, he was not excited. NOT excited. Needless to say, I'm not excited anymore either. I'm beginning to think I'm going to have to go back to Wal-Mart and just hope that the one remaining Captain America costume is still there. My chances are probably very slim to none.
But then Seth has an idea . . . Mason can wear the costume that he (SETH) wore to school when he was in 1st grade. I thought he was kidding. He wasn't. In fact, he left right then and went to his mom's house to find the costume. He comes back grinning ear-to-ear. Literally. There's very little that excites him, but obviously an Indian costume that was fashioned by his really cool aunt who lived in Chicago is exciting to Seth Bayham.
I'm wasn't quite sure how Mason felt about this, but he loves his daddy so much, and he wants to be like his daddy. And, of course, we had to listen to the story about how he got to wear it to school, and it was the best costume of anyone in the class. So Mason asked if he "won." And that's when it got ugly. No, he said, he got second place. Mason asked about the first place winner. Through gritted teeth, Seth tells us about the little girl in his class who came dressed as a pumpkin and won the 1st place prize for best costume. Pumpkins are cute. Really, they are precious. But the pumpkin costume was actually one of those plastic numbers from whatever store they had back then because Seth said he didn't remember there being a Wal-Mart. It's also quite obvious that this plastic pumpkin costume has scarred him for life and caused a seed of bitterness to spring up in his heart where pumpkins are concerned.I asked him to go back to his mom's and find a picture of him dressed in the Indian costume. And when he did, he also found a picture of said pumpkin costume. He's right. He was robbed.
Like a good sport, Mason donned the Indian costume. I'm just going to be real honest here. I'm not sure that Mason even really knows what an Indian is! But he has agreed to go to school on Friday as an Indian. Here's my little satchmo in his daddy's 1st grade Indian costume.
Like father like son.