Monday, October 27, 2008

Halloween: a time of mischief... and manipulation.


Halloween is so much fun when you have kids. There's a whole different dimension to it that wasn't there before. It's not just about you anymore... now you have little ones to dress up, to parade around and show off to the neighbors, and to steal candy from. It's great!

In years past, Alexander was always prey to whatever costume I decided would befit him best. His first Halloween, at nearly 11 months old, he was decked out in a big stuffed alligator getup in which his big blue eyes peeked out from under the snout. His second Halloween he wore a cheapie little pirate costume accentuated by a strip of gold sequined fabric around the waist that I snagged from a fabric store, and his chin sported a feeble little black triangle that I hastily drew on with eyeliner. Last year, he was Dracula, looking dapper with his hair slicked back with gel and another triangle of eyeliner - this time drawn on his head in the form of a widow's peak. Cute!

This year, I thought, I'm going to have to give him a choice as to what he wants to be. He's almost 4 years old, and with my luck I'd buy something and then he'd refuse to wear it. So for the last two months we've been discussing what he should be for Halloween. I couldn't wait to see what he came up with.

His first decision that he wanted to be a vampire like last year. No no no, I thought. That won't do at all! Each year you have to be something DIFFERENT, at least in these early years until the excitement of Halloween fades and you end up a sullen teenager wearing a hooded sweatshirt and carrying a pillowcase under the guise of being "a ghost."

Well, he held steadfast to his decision to once again be a vampire. I decided, then, to take him Halloween costume shopping to inspire him. We went to Target and browsed their costume aisles. We even made a trip over to Halloween Express and perused the vast array of costumes, oohing and ahhing over every sword, crown of jewels and elaborate mask that we passed. I waited for inspiration to strike and for him to cry out, "Mommy! Look at this! I want to be THIS!"

It never happened, and he instead insisted on his Dracula dreams. We've got plenty of time, I figured. I'll just keep asking every so often. I'd break out the Halloween catalogs that came in the mail. I'd tell him what his little friends were going to be. We'd find a way!

With Colette's costume as Tinkerbell secured, I decided that the obvious choice for Alexander's Halloween costume would most certainly have to be Peter Pan. The best way to do this, a friend advised, is to have him watch the movie! THEN he'd want to be Peter Pan. I was inspired. And then one morning while perusing a yard sale, I spotted it... a Peter Pan DVD. This was it! Finally, he was going to have his costume. I snatched it up and eagerly brought it home.

We watched the movie the next morning, and he loved it. I kept talking up the fact that Peter Pan could FLY and isn't that cool?! Still, he didn't seem terribly enamored of the idea of being the boy who didn't want to grow up. Undeterred, I decided to focus instead on Captain Hook. Now THIS was a good idea. Alexander loved hooks! He loved hooking things and stringing them together. The prospect of wearing a HOOK as a hand? It couldn't fail!

It did. No matter how I talked it up, he just wasn't biting. Apparently the idea wasn't as great of a "hook" as I'd hoped it would be. I was ready to give up and just let him wear the stupid Dracula costume from last year. Hey, there are worse things, right? So I'd save some cash and not have to buy a new costume. Maybe I could festoon him with some different accessories...

One night this past weekend while in Target, I somberly guided my cart down the costumes aisle once again. Why was I bothering? He wasn't even with me this time. And then... maybe it was out of desperation, but I finally had a stroke of genius. The costume was cheap, it was in his size, and it was mine. After double-checking with the cashier that the costume was indeed returnable if it was still before Halloween, I headed out with my purchase. It was just in case my idea didn't pan out, though I couldn't imagine that it wouldn't.

The next morning, Alexander happened upon the ninja costume that I'd so carefully laid out in plain view. "What's this?" he asked. Knowing that I needed to stay cool and as natural as possible, I glanced over, disinterested. "Oh, that?" I said nonchalantly. "That's just a costume from last year that I had but you weren't a big enough boy to fit into."

"But I'm a big boy NOW," he said.
"Oh? You are?" I asked.
"Yes! It would fit me NOW," he continued.
"Hm. I don't know," I said reluctantly. "Maybe."
"Can I try it, mommy? Please?" he pleaded.
"Well, ok, I guess so," I said, smiling at Zach who was shaking his head disapprovingly at me from across the room.
"Yay! Yay!" Alexander yelled, jumping up and down.

About five minutes later, he stood proudly decked out in head-to-toe black, hood over his head, red sashes tied around his arms and waist and a Chinese star dangling from one side. "See, mommy?" he said. "I told you!"
"Wow, you really are a big boy!" I said.

He didn't take it off for the rest of the day.