The eternal Halloween dilemma: warmth vs. style. Does the Child show off the costume, or wear a coat over it like the Mom wants?
We went to the zoo Spooktacular last night, a yearly event at our house. We've been doing these every year since the oldest children--now in college--were still trick-or-treating. Now, the second wave of kids, ages 11, 7, and 6, are the ones who insist we go to the Spooktacular. I always freeze, so of course, the kids must wear coats.
This year, we have a gangly pre-teen ghost and two small matching princesses. I actually put out money for two new Wal-Mart Halloween costumes this year, something I rarely do. Usually it's, "Oh, there must be something in the costume box you can wear." I'm cheap when it comes to holidays.
But this year, I bought the princess dresses. For Spooktacular, I made the little girls wear their coats--UNDER the dresses. It was a rare moment of hilarity in my life. I've reached a point where my life is mostly a question of get it done and move on to the next thing--someone or something always wants to be fed or taken somewhere, some teacher always wants some reading club book returned, it's Pajama day at school and I have to figure out what the kids will wear, the Siamese cat has chronic digestive issues for which I am researching cat foods to try to cure, I have to go to work, and on and on and blah.
So frequently, I don't find myself enjoying much of it. But last night, I did find the little girls in their "chubby princess costumes" (Lillie's description) a treat. They looked SO much like Queen Victoria in her later years--not the faces, of course, but the queenly tummies jutting out like the prows on a couple of small ships, Wal-Mart lace stretched tight over the bulky winter coats beneath. It was a moment.
