Blue-Footed Musings

Dear Kids,

Halloween 2014 was a lot of fun.

• Marshall originally wanted to be a bat for Halloween. Bats weren’t “in” this year, so I figured I’d have to make the costume myself. Still, I thought it couldn’t hurt to check the stores, so I took him on a costume-shopping trip. There were no bats to be found. He almost went for a banana costume, but suddenly, and for no apparent reason, he chose to be Spider-Man.
• Marshall took his Spider-Man costume to school on Halloween so that he could wear it in the kindergarten costume parade. The mask was uncomfortable, so by the time we went out trick-or-treating, he had decided not to wear it anymore. Going maskless seemed wrong to us. Another parent even jokingly commented on the fact that Spider-Man had revealed his identity. But Marshall was too busy enjoying himself to care about what he was wearing. He was totally focused on the moment. The costume may not have been complete, but its wearer’s happiness was.
• Livia wanted to be a Butterfly Flower Princess for Halloween. I decided to make her costume using one of her princess skirts, a leotard, a crown, a pair of wings, and various fake flowers. I thought I’d be able to sew some of the flowers to the leotard. I had forgotten how difficult sewing is. I gave up on that project after just a few feeble attempts. Instead, I made a couple of floral bracelets and attached three of the larger flowers to the waistband of her skirt using safety pins. That went well. My husband then glued LEDs to the center of each flower. The LEDs changed colors and the effect was quite pretty. We also had one big, long flower to which he attached three LEDs. This became her wand/scepter. It was a cute costume, and she was happy with it. But Halloween night was so chilly that she had to wear a jacket. Most of the leotard was concealed by the jacket. So it was a good thing that I hadn’t spent more time trying to sew those flowers on!
• After a few people mistakenly assumed that she was a fairy, Livia began announcing her costume theme at every house. She’d walk right up and exclaim, “I’m a Flower Princess!”
• One woman held out a bowl of assorted candies and asked Marshall what his favorite was. He said, “I like candy!”
• Both of you had an enthusiastic “Trick or Treat!” and (usually) a “Thank you!” for your candy-givers. Your energy was contagious. A few people even commented on your politeness.
• Marshall suggested that you should say “Boo!” to all the other children, and you did.
• We weighed your candy when we got home. You had between 9 and 10 pounds combined!

Walking around in the cold weather made my bad knee ache. I was limping by the time we got back. It was worth it, though. We only get so many Halloweens. I remember trick-or-treating when I was a child. In my memory, those nights loom so large that it’s as if there were a thousand of them. But there weren’t, not even close. There were maybe ten, certainly no more than fifteen, just those Halloweens that occurred between toddlerhood and “too old.” So Halloweens are rare, and they are precious. I want you to enjoy yours as much as I enjoyed mine.

So far, so good!

Love,

Mom