Story of my Life (Or Actually, Here There Be Dragons)

[taste_is_sweet]

This has definitely been The Year of Things Not Quite Turing Out as I Planned.

Case in point: My son's Halloween costume.



In the beginning of September--which wasn't all that long ago, really--my awesome and yet somewhat fickle child wanted to go as Tinkerbell. Why Tinkerbell? Because he loves girls and Tinkerbell is one of the coolest girls ever. Now, I live in one of the most conservative cities in one of the most conservative states in the US, and while I have no problem at all with Jav wearing jewelry to school or painting his nails (both things that worried his teacher at the time; no joke), I had to draw the line at my five year-old dressing in drag for Halloween. I knew it wouldn't go over well to say the least, and I didn't want my son to suffer the questions and comments, and--to be perfectly honest--I didn't either. So I convinced him that he could be one of Tinkerbell's male fairy friends (she has a lot of them), so that people would admire his costume rather than wondering why a boy was dressed like a girl. He was cool with that so away we went.

This is what his costume ended up looking like:


Is that not nifty? You can't really see them, but I bought a bunch of play tools and covered them with duct tape to make them gray and brown then made holsters for them. I also sewed and duct taped the thrift store clothes I bought to fit him better and got the wings and the totally awesome steampunk goggles from eBay. I worked on and off on this thing for two months, and I was very, very proud of it.

And he hated it. Look at that face. Turned out that between the beginning of September and the end of October, he'd decided that he really wanted to go as a dragon.

O_O

I'll admit that my first response was to want to order him to wear the damn fairy costume because it was SO COOL and I'd worked so hard on it. But then I got over myself and remembered that this was about him, not about me, and did I really want him to remember his fourth Halloween as the one where he hated his costume?

So, with the block party looming in an hour, I made this:


Not exactly fine art. I covered a toy firefighter's hat with an old green bandana and attached it with duct tape. The eyes are the bottoms of plastic goblets covered with white muffin papers (Jav helped by drawing the eyeballs). The teeth are also from the goblets, covered with masking tape and then more muffin paper. The sweater is mine. I cut a bit off an old towel to make it look vaguely wing-like, and fastened it to the sweater using safety pins. It was finished just in time for the party.

While I'm proud of my ingenuity under pressure, I'll admit the costume kind of sucks. But Jav was so happy. (I know he's not smiling much in the picture, but I swear he was thrilled.) He was running around with his arms out pretending to fly, and he thanked me and gave me hugs about a zillion times. Seeing how overjoyed he was to get to wear what he really wanted was definitely worth never getting the admiration I'd been expecting for the fairy costume. And my husband's sympathy was very nice.

Jav told me that he wants to go as an alien for Halloween next year, with tentacles. I've already got some ideas, but I think I'll keep them on the back burner for awhile.

Comments

:( and yet :)

[squeakyoflight.livejournal.com]

So, I laughed out loud at his expression in the first picture. but the costume does totally look awesome. And I remember how much sweat and blood and tears you put into it. I'm sorry he didn't like it in the end.

Very brave of you to make it about him instead of all your hard work. I'd keep both pictures though, just to remind him of your pain in the future. You know, when he tells you he hates you because you clearly don't love him because of some horrible discipline you're imposing or something.

I hope the day was worth every ounce of stress! You really are the best mommy ever! And FYI: Madelee didn't want to wear her pistol with her pirate queen costume in the end. So I made her. ;->

Love 4-evah!

Squeaky

Re: :( and yet :)

[taste-is-sweet.livejournal.com]

A Pirate Queen has to have a pistol! I hope you told her she couldn't go out trick-or-treating unless she had one. ;->

I want pictures, by the way! And please show these ones to Jo-Jo--I remember how much he wanted to see them!

Thank you for the compliment. I was disappointed, but it really was worth it to see him so happy. :D

[rissabby.livejournal.com]

You are awesome and your son is cool.

[taste-is-sweet.livejournal.com]

Thank you. :D He is totally awesome. And I try.

[miscellanny.livejournal.com]

You're wonderful. :)

[taste-is-sweet.livejournal.com]

:D Thank you! I certainly try.

[danceswithgary]

You are the best Mom - both costumes are great in different ways and huzzah for a happy kid.

[taste-is-sweet.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I certainly try. I'm just glad that he was happy with what I was able to come up with.

[wpadmirer.livejournal.com]

I think you're an awesome mom for being so flexible about it all. I do like the male fairy costume, it's very cool, but how fantastic is it that he can be so thrilled with something that was last minute? I mean, he's obviously a dragon in his own mind, and what you did worked for him. I think that's incredibly wonderful on both your parts.

[taste-is-sweet.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much. It was really cool to see how happy he was. I'm very glad that I was able to make something that made him feel like a dragon. He is a really wonderful kid. :D

[ribbon-purple.livejournal.com]

You deserve it. Wow, no wonder you were feeling so crappy last night. *hugs*

[taste-is-sweet.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Your picture comments are so kind. :D

I really did have an awful headache--and I had one this morning and I've got one again now! F**king Texas weather.

[carolyn-claire.livejournal.com]

Aw, what a great story! I miss making little costumes, though I do still get to make big ones, sometimes. And they still think I'm the best mom ever. So will yours, when he's their age. :)

[taste-is-sweet.livejournal.com]

I'm just thrilled when he thinks I'm the best mom now....

Thank you. :D It is a lot more fun than I thought it would be, getting to be creative on someone else's behalf.

[amalthia]

lol, you're an awesome mom.

[taste-is-sweet.livejournal.com]

Thank you. :D

[gottalovev.livejournal.com]

OMG, look at his little face (first of disgruntlement, then of glee).

The fairy costume does kick ass, big time. But the dragon one is special because it made him so happy. You did great!

[taste-is-sweet.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I love your appropriate icon, too. I want a little dragon like that! :D

[springwoof.livejournal.com]

I think both costumes are pretty awesome. They're both clearly characters that he's inhabiting, they're both made with love & tons of creativity. (the second one lacked only a *little* more time for you to be able to get it a bit closer to your artistic vision, but obviously satisfied Jav) We had so many home-made costumes on the little trick-or-treaters this year--a function of the poor economy?--but, to be honest, they were so much more creative and cool than any store-bought costume I've seen on kids. Costumes made with love & creativity are the best!

(And, as Squeaks said, you're the *best* mom for making it be about what made Jav happy rather than all the work you did on the costume. He can always wear the fairy costume again for dress-up play; Halloween only comes once a year.)

[taste-is-sweet.livejournal.com]

Thank you for that very sweet comment. I was very, very happy that his dragon costume delighted him so much even though it wasn't spectacular. And for all the mistakes I still make as Jav's mommy, this Halloween I know I got right. :D