The day my daughters saw a leaf drift from the our oak tree to the sidewalk, they excitedly shrieked, "Halloween is coming!" One of the most thought-about decisions of kids is their choice of costume for Halloween. If you ask any elementary-aged kid about costumes they will tell you all about their ideas and why they want to dress up as that particular person/thing. I'm not a crafter; I don't own a sewing kit let alone a sewing machine. I don't have the patience to go to Good Will and sift through racks and I don't have the temperament to make costumes but my daughters rarely pick a costume that can be purchased.
Last year, my older daughter was Hagrid from Harry Potter. They don't make Hagrid costumes for kids so we slowly and meticulously pieced together an outfit for her. We found brown clothing in closets, bought a wig and a beard, borrowed boots and a pink umbrella and searched out and found motorcycle goggles. This year, my younger daughter has her heart set on being an ice cream cone. Last week, we made the list of items that we need: a white shirt, a white tutu, white shoes, lots of colorful felt, and my trusty hot glue gun (the only crafting tool that I own).
It is easy for me to read books to my kids at night or go swimming for hours; I enjoy those activities. My growling "Don't touch the glue gun!" while I cut out and glue hundreds of felt sprinkles is not my cup of tea. I do it because my sweet girl's eyes lit up when she saw an ice cream costume on Pinterest and my heart skipped a beat when I saw her joy. Sometimes our love is expressed in words, sometimes in hugs and kisses and sometimes it is expressed in countless toddler tea parties, in listening to your son talk about Minecraft for hours, and in hot gluing hundreds of felt-shaped sprinkles onto a tutu.
Have a good weekend,
Mary
