I’m already running a bit late for my self-imposed goal of posting every day for November, so you’ll have to excuse me. Halloween was much more physically exhausting than I anticipated, especially since we had to turn down more than one event and we didn’t go to any wild parties. It still managed to be non-stop for two days and so today I’m probably going to spend it on the couch, rubbing my poor arthritic legs and swigging back more prescription cough syrup for my lingering bronchitis.
I didn’t have plans to dress up this year (besides, I could never hope to surpass dressing up as Troi Impregnated With Alien Baby). No, actually, that’s not entirely accurate–I had a concept costume I was working on but bronchitis got the better of me and I abandoned it for another year. So then I briefly didn’t have plans to dress up, when I decided I was going to wear my 100% normal clothes and let my inner witch out by donning a hat. I wore the costume all day on Friday, and kids at Isobel’s school were allowed to dress up, so I wore my hat with pride for school drop off, to their midday Costume Parade, and at pick up. Every noticed, of course, but only the littler kids said something. I heard of a chorus of “Mommy! Look at that witch!” wherever I went. It was pretty great. My inspiration to be a witch going about her normal business was this woman, whom I saw a few years ago on Halloween morning at the grocery store. She’s an inspiration to crones everywhere.
Isobel must have taken her costume inspiration from brother’s costume last year and was Pikachu. Anthony took Isobel to a pop-up costume store practically the moment it opened, and they called me on the drive there. “We’re just going to take a look around,” Anthony said. “But if we see anything, ” Isobel added, “We are going to buy it!” I wanted to contribute something handmade to the costume, so I made her lightning bolt hair clips, which I’ll give a tutorial for later this week. Anthony chose Elias’ costume (Robin, Boy Wonderful) without consulting me, which made me a bit cranky, until he told me that he would dress as Batman and it would be a couple’s costume. Adorable!
Isobel got a lot of positive attention from her costume this year, which is in stark contrast to last year. Hardly anybody could tell she was The Wasp from the Avengers, and every time someone said “look at that adorable bee!” her frustration grew. She still talks about how irritated that makes her. This year she was greeted with cheers of “Pikachu! It’s Pikachu!” nearly everywhere we went. Anthony’s Batman and Elias’ Robin was also a huge hit. Other than at Isobel’s school, people were less than enthusiastic about my witch costume, as well they should be. Avoid me, mortals! Or I will give you warts. One little boy, who was maybe three or four and also dressed as Batman, was so excited about Anthony’s Batman that he ran over screaming “BATMAN! BATMAN! It’s really Batman! And he excitedly showed Anthony his costume. They compared capes, hero poses, and masks. It was just the cutest.
This year marked Elias’ first trick-or-treating Halloween, as last year he just hung out in the ergo. Isobel spent a lot of time and effort trying to get him to say “trick or treat!” without success. He ended up following her around with a huge grin on his face. He wasn’t sure what was going on, but he liked it!
Isobel’s school had a carnival, and before we went we had to stop by the bank for some ticket-purchasing cash. I wait in the car with the kids as another car pulls up next to us. I can’t help but feel a bit ridiculous, sitting in a car dressed up as a witch, while Anthony walks past us as Batman. I can’t help but wonder what the guy next to us is thinking, when the car door opens and out steps a man in a full gorilla suit, sans mask. It could not have been funnier.
It was a hot couple of days. Temperatures were mercifully only in the mid-80s (as opposed to 95 degrees like it was on my birthday), but that is still sweat-weather when you are running around outside in costume in full sun. I was in head-to-toe black, which didn’t help, but one must suffer for beauty/for your craft. The man in the furry gorilla suit must have been dying. I hope his party was somewhere indoors and air-conditioned.
We did the actual business of trick-or-treating with cousins Jewel and Kai, and it became clear that the two older girls were going to outstrip the younger boys in pace. Anthony remarked that it looked like Halloween was split into two teams–the Varsity and the Junior Varsity. Not long after that Elias fell asleep in the stroller, so it was more like Varsity, Junior Varsity, and Bench Warmer.
Isobel was not going to let her brother miss out, however. She was sure to tell each house THERE’S ANOTHER TRICK-OR-TREATER! HE’S JUST PASSED OUT! and even though Elias didn’t knock on that many doors, by the end of the night his pumpkin was as full as the others’.
