This year’s theme revolved around Potamus’ love of all things super hero related. We had Wonder Mom, Bat Dad, and Spider Kid. Pretty epic. He fell asleep halfway around our neighborhood loop. I had to carry him asleep on my shoulder with his heavy sack of treats dangling from his grubby little fists.
He now keeps saying “chocolate,” and “costume,” and I get the two confused because he can’t quite enunciate well enough yet. At any rate, we had a fun Halloween, and hope you all did too!
I’m so rarely trendy, but this year’s costume was modeled after the delightfully annoying fun “What Does the Fox Say” video.
To be totally truthful, my costume was an inside family joke turned trendy as a total accident. But I loved it. We took Potamus to a local church for “Trunk or Treat,” to see grandma dressed up as a farmer, and I got so many little kids asking “what does the fox say?” and I’d bust out with a little “rindingdingdingding” and do a little wiggle. Clearly Halloween was made for mature adults like me.
After that we roamed our neighborhood for a bit, stopping at some friend’s houses, and saying hi to all our neighbor kids that we knew. I loved seeing all the clever family costumes, like our neighbors the super heroes. And Potamus has a BLAST helping pass out candy to all the kids who came to the door. Though he didn’t quite get the idea that passing out candy didn’t mean that he got to have another piece of candy for every kid that came to the door. I’m pretty sure he ate like 5 mini Twix before we cut him off for the night…
All in all, Halloween was really fun/exhausting. And of course Potamus has been up this morning since 5am…
My mom made this Minnie Mouse dress for me. I wore it until it was in tatters.
Holidays: I love them. LOVE them. I love Halloween…dressing up and getting to be a different archetype or part of my personality is SO MUCH FUN! As a kid my parents were conservative fundamentalist Christians, but they still allowed us to participate in Halloween activities providing that we didn’t dress up as anything “evil.” There were several years I went as a princess or a fairy or once as a very non PC Indian (from India) girl (though I rationalize it now as an adult because our neighbors were from India and gave me the salwar kameez set and I’ve lived in India and freaking love and respect the culture so much that I really think I was Indian in a former life. At any rate, not very PC, I know). One year I was a mime with my best friend and another year (um, possibly senior year of HS) I was a mermaid. I wore scuba flippers covered in sequins. It was rad.
Today is Halloween. And then there will be Thanksgiving (which is like Christmas without the drama of presents) and then my birthday/Potamus birthday/our anniversary/Christmas/New Years. It’s like this totally magical season upon us and I will love it hardcore. But I find myself in this strange dilemma…decorating our house.
If I go with the Halloween theme it’s over quite quickly and on to Thanksgiving. Do I go with a Fall theme that then drags on from October all the way through November? (seems too long?) and then Christmas is right around the corner…it’s exhausting. Also, I don’t like junk. I really love it when people decorate (especially for Christmas), but the act of breaking out all the Christmas decorations as a kid and putting them all over the house was exhausting. And then there was putting them away, which was a letdown and boring and overall more of a chore (also, sad to see a holiday end, ya know?).
Now, as an adult, with my own home, I’ve run into an entirely new dilemma: storing holiday junk. Our non-functioning garage has turned into a pile of boxes of plenty other remnants of our former life (books from when Boof was a pastor, notebooks from when I was in grad school, clothes from when Potamus was a newborn…you get the idea). What has prevented me from decking my house for any holiday is the overwhelming feeling that everything turns into junk the day after the holiday. I mean, I’ve had the advent gingerbread house and snowman cookie jar sitting around on my counter since last Christmas when my biological family gave it to me. But it’s felt like clutter since last Christmas.
Last year I went to the dollar store and got some window clings that looked like blood and a ghostly face. It was fun. And I threw it all away the day after Halloween because I couldn’t bear to pack it around for a full year. But I feel guilty for that waste…not only wasting money, but also throwing that stuff into the garbage. It wasn’t donation worthy, though, and so I didn’t feel like I had many options. This year I feel the same way…I got a few inflatable Halloween decorations that could be stored easily or donated, but it’s not nearly the decorating theme I’d normally gravitate toward and seems like I’m caught in this weird place…and it’s only Halloween. Now that Potamus is getting older shouldn’t I want to do the Christmas tree and ornaments and garlands like I loved growing up? But the thought of all the money I’d spend on buying that and then having to store it or give it away…I dunno, I just feel…torn by it all.
The Halloween section of Value Village was calling my name. And Potamus wanted to try on all the wigs and hats. I couldn’t stop laughing when we put them on. So funny…and I remembered how much I love having Fridays off.
Crazy clown
Sad anime baby
If i had a brunette
Bed head?
Thoughtful purple head
He couldn't stop laughing
Ah yes, another rainy Halloween is going to be on the books for the great folks of Seattle. Tonight we will trick-or-treat all over the drizzly city, dodging puddles and collecting candy in pillowcases or banned plastic grocery bags. But one thing you will see a lot of: the Halloween Turtleneck.Even more pervasive than Steve Jobs’ daily staple, is the Halloween Turtleneck. It really should come standard with any costume sold in the greater Pacific Northwest. Not only is this Halloween Turtleneck fashionable (although I’m doubting they will come out with a ‘sexy turtleneck’ costume by next year), it is also extremely practical. Want to wear a costume but don’t want to have it covered by a North Face jacket, or worse, a plastic rain poncho? Turtleneck.
Even now, as an adult, I can’t begin to imagine deciding on a Halloween costume that coulnd’t be accessorized with the traditional turtleneck to make it warmer. I wish I had pictures of all my costumes as a kid, but thinking back, I cannot recollect even one outfit that wasn’t accesorized with the Halloween Turtleneck. It was much better than always going as Paddington Bear, in his yellow rain slicker.
Lion & Lion Tamer mama
What, you don’t want me to put this in my mouth?
It’s Halloween season, so we took Potamus to the pumpkin patch! He loved it, and so did we. But people kept staring…must have been my awesome ‘stache 😉
boof & monk-monk 