A One-Girl Band

I remember the Halloween when Meagan was two; she was just the right size to fit into her life-size Raggedy Ann's clothes.  That same year, Erin was excited to wear an Indian costume that her Dad had made and worn years before.  Of course, we embellished the costume significantly, wrapping her favorite doll, Jackie, to be a papoose, but the old costume gave us a good start.  (We still have that Indian costume in our basement storeroom, but it just wouldn't be politically correct to wear it now.)


Meagan was three when she decided that she wanted to be "a band" for Halloween.  I don't know where she came up with that idea, but she was adamant--she just had to be a band!  It was all she could talk about for weeks.  I was used to assembling costumes for the girls, but I wasn't sure how I would come up with a band costume.  Luckily, I didn't have to make one after all.

That October, I accompanied Bill on a business trip to I-can't-remember-where.  The hotel gift shop happened to have a red felt band costume just a little too big--okay, a lot too big-- for Meagan.  She was thrilled when I brought it home for her.  I glued more red felt and gold braid to some cardboard to make a matching hat, searched through the girls' toys to find a plastic saxophone, and Meagan was ready to go trick-or-treating with big sister Erin.  That year, six-year-old Erin chose to be a black cat, so I got off easy with her costume--I just added a store-bought set of ears and tail to the leotard she wore for ballet, and she was ready to go.


I miss those days of making Halloween costumes, of scrounging just the right combination of props to make a perfect costume.  Nowadays, we just go shopping to find the right Ninja costume for Levi.  I don't think I could make an authentic-looking Ninja costume even if I wanted to.

All of my preschoolers will be wearing beautifully proper costumes to school on Thursday.  Nearly every little girl will be dressed as a particular Disney princess, and most of the boys will be Ninjas or super heroes.  They will have a marvelous time.  But, I really think they are missing out on the fun that comes from working together as a family to put together some one-of-kind costumes.  If you have enough money, you can buy some amazing costumes, it's true.  But no amount of money is sufficient to buy the memories that come with assembling your own costumes.

Ahhh, the good old days!


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