Me: Stella, what do you want to be for Halloween?
Stella: Yellow hat man.
Me: Do you mean the Man in the Yellow Hat from Curious George?
Stella: Um. Ya.
Day 2
Me: Stella, what do you want to be for Halloween?
Stella: Yellow hat man.
Day 3
Me: Stella, what do you want to be for Halloween?
Stella: Yellow hat man.
Day 4
Me: Stella, what do you want to be for Halloween?
Stella: Yellow hat man.
Day 5
Me: Ok Stella, I'm gonna order everything to make Man in the Yellow Hat costume. Are you sure that's what you want your costume to be?
Stella: Uhuh.
Day 6:
Me: Stella, what do you want to be for Halloween?
Stella: Ninja Turtle
Me: Seriously? What happened to The Man in the Yellow Hat and Baby Z could be a monkey for Curious George?
Stella: No. Ninja Turtle
Me: ARGHHHH
Stella: (singing) Jake and the Neverland Pirates...lalala..be a pirateer...
Me: Well, which Ninja Turtle?
Stella: Ummm. Purple!
Me: Donatello?
Stella: Ya! Purple! With Sword!
Me: Well Donatello has a stick not a sword. The sword is Leonardo I think.
Stella: Ya. Purple!
Day 7...Day?
Me: Okay I'm gonna order Ninja Turtle costume. Are you sure that's what you want to dress up as?
Stella: Yes. Purple Ninja Turtle with Sword Stick
Me: Ok well after I hit confirm order that's it.
Stella: Yay! Me want to be...I want to be Ninja Turtle!
Ninja Turtle costume arrives. Stella tries it on. It's something like 10 inches too long. Stella is excited like no other. Loves the shell I've stuffed with Poly-Fill. "Want to be a ninja turtle! Want to be a ninja turtle! I don't want to take my costume off!" Finally does. I spend 2-3 days altering it to fit my 3-year-old into a costume clearly sized for a 12-year-old, but labeled "3-4 years."
Day Before Halloween
Stella: I don't want to be Ninja Turtle. I want to be wicked witch.
No do-overs at our house...Stella was a Ninja Turtle without a sword or stick, and by the end of the night, without a mask and a shell.
Baby Z needed something to wear while being Baby Bjorned. I opted for a spider which I made out of 3 pairs of socks and poly fill, and anything else I could find around the house, since leaving the house to go shopping with 2 kids is a far off fantasy.
Believe it or not. Halloween is a pretty big deal here in Scotland. At least close to what it is in the States. Stella's nursery school was done up fully top to bottom the entire week leading up to Halloween as a haunted house. Her class had face painting the whole week as well, with dress up everyday, leading up to their Halloween Party. As I recall, back home we only had one day of it typically at school if at all.
Also, folks carve pumpkins and decorate their homes just the same.
The main differences:
- Kids are better mannered
- It's primarily primary kids that go trick-or-treating here. None of those post-pubescent "kids" painting their faces, calling it a costume, taking (not asking for) your candy then complaining that you don't have anything good.
- Instead of visiting houses that have the porch light on, you only visit houses that have set out a pumpkin or jack-o-lantern.
- Kids also have to tell a joke before the candy dispensing begins. My favorite of the night was told by our friends' oldest son who was dressed as an astronaut:
- "How do you get a baby astronaut to go to sleep? You rocket!"
- That one just got better as the night wore on. Nevermind the fact that by the end of the night, Stella had hijacked it as her own, though not successfully. She doesn't fully grasp the idea or concept of a joke yet.
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| Baby Z test drove her costume at the beginning of the week during her JoJingles class. |
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| Meeowwww |
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| Spiderman face apparently |
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| Pirate |
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| Rainbow. Perhaps Rainbow Brite. I don't know |
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| It was so much more fun and nicer going trick-or-treating with friends. |
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| My favorite pumpkin of the night. |
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| Ya... she was sick for a few days after 3 candies. Poor thing never really has any otherwise. |
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| Here's a little gift for you, the reader. Thanks to Aunty Michelle for stumbling upon this gem. A picture of my kindergarten class dressed up for Halloween. So it shouldn't be difficult to pick me out. There are only 3 girls (not sure why) and I'm the one that looks like my children. |
