Halloween is coming up at the end of the month and with it the whole costume dilemma.
The costume dilemma has moved on from when I was a child, you wore a Halloween costume if you went trick or treating, no trick or treating no costume. And that Halloween costume was a plastic witches hat with synthetic hair from the corner shop and a black bin bag over your clothes. Voila a witch.
Instead, these days, we have more than just Halloween costumes, we also have costume day at nursery. Not content with making parents sending their child in costume for international day (football kit), World Book Day (any boy from any book), random end of term parties (someone with a hat on??) we also have to do Halloween costumes.
Now, I aspire to be a Pinterest Perfect Mummy. I really do. And I can do the rainbow spaghetti and the home made Play Doh (and I do). I bake with the boys and although my creations aren't pretty they are edible. What I can't do is create pretty costumes out of a bed sheet, three pieces of string and a marker pen. Well I probably could give it a good go but I don't think anyone, myself included, would know what it was.
Definitely more Pinterest Fail than Pinterest Perfect. Like the time I fashioned a pirate sword out of tin foil and a wooden spoon (and never saw the spoon again).
Yes costumes are my nemesis. Not only that but the Toddler hates dressing up.
Hates it.
The last costume day at nursery resulted in a battle of the wills, mine forcing the costume on so I didn't look like the mother who didn't pay attention to the nursery notice board (I don't) and him pulling it off as quickly as I could pull it on. Screaming until he was red in the face. Snot bubbling from his nose. Tears dripping from his chin.
Yep. Not going to be winning Mother of the Year depositing a tearful, hicupping pirate to nursery that day.
Even more, when I went to collect him he was his normal, happy little self; He was also no longer a pirate (and he'd lost my spoon).
That's when it hit me. No matter what the occasion. No matter what other nursery mums think. No matter if I all of a sudden become a Pinterest costume whizz. No matter if I think it is cute and adorable for the Toddler to be dressed up. If the Toddler doesn't want to wear a Halloween costume he shouldn't have to.
It's his choice.
And that's why, this year, you won't see the Toddler as a ghost fashioned from a sheet and a bit of eyeliner. Or a cat in black clothes with eyeliner whiskers. Or a pirate with an eyeliner skull and cross bones (see the eyeliner theme here - told you Pinterest costume failure). He will simply be a boy on Halloween.
A stubborn, wilful, independent boy.
And that's okay too.
The baby on the other hand, well I've seen a fantastic lobster in a pot costume...
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This post first appeared here.