Cereal Box, Duct Tape, Paper Clips, Staples, Glitter Glue. One small boy with large demands. One mother with a pair of scissors. "I Wanna be a Knight Wif a Hel(l) MET!"
When I was a child my mother painstakingly created unique and amazing Halloween costumes from scratch...for five children. As a mother myself, this has represented the pinnacle of ideal parenthood. One of the *important* things I always imagined I'd do as a matter of course for my own children... One of a number of things that hasn't exactly materialized in my current reality. And I was fine with that, really. This Halloween I came to the realization that perhaps my mother didn't spend all that time cutting and sewing because it was her greatest joy and aspiration to create one-of-a-kind costumes. Perhaps, (just maaaayyybbbeeee,) she did it because we children asked (demanded? expected?) it of her (GASP!)
Thus it was I found myself constructing a knight helmet...a *WEAL one* with a face plate that could be raised or lowered, simply because my son could not, would not, be a knight without one (and could not possibly choose another costume, of course.) AND he had to personally assist. Simpler versions were rejected out of hand. Only the best for MY boy!
Thankfully, Grayce could be relied on to choose a variation of "Princess" for which we have numerous dress-up options on hand. Add some make-up, a few ribbons, a little glitter, sparkly shoes and we're good to go! Ta Da: Grayce as the "Star Princess"!!
So I guess I've pretty much attained Super Mom status around here... and fullfilled my quest for the title of "Ideal Mother" (oh...that's right...that never was my quest...never mind...back to the real world where the words "ideal" and "mother" have no relationship, what so ever.)
All Hallow's Eve came to Palm Meadows. A friend, Laura Lee, donated some extra pumpkins she'd picked up at Russell Market (I was preparing to carve up a watermelon or make up something about India's Halloween tradition, "The Great Coconut") The kids cut and pasted and colored various colored paper renditions of the usual Halloween decorations and taped them to our door, windows and the two Palm trees just outside our house. We had signed our house up to be a "trick-or-treat" house a few days before. A listing of the houses that would participate was emailed to all and every house was asked to have a few Halloween decorations so the kids would know where it was okay to go. There was supposed to be a party with costume prizes at the Amenities Center but by the time we arrived it had degenerated into a swirling mass of decorated little people...so we opted to just join some fellow Minnesota expats (Heather and Brian Vanderpool and their 3 children: Ella, Sacia and Zach,) for trick-or-treating. It was fun to see that a number of Indian residents, welcomed our children for their "Halloween Festival." India is one country that appreciates a good festival!
For once the kids did not have to cover up their costumes with a winter coat, mittens, hats or scarves... It was a balmy, dry 70 degrees F. It's the first time we've ever had to use mosquito repellant on October 31st, though! That reminds me... a tip, should you ever happen to be out trick-or-treating during the Mosquito Fogging Hour when Mosquito Fogging Man rides by on his chemical laden bicycle happily spraying FDA forbidden pesticides directly into a group of miniature witches, monsters and angels...RUN the opposite direction!
"Mommy, mommy are we going to be poisoned and DIE????"
"What? No, honey, of course not"
"But you said we had to come inside every night because the mosquito fog is DANGEROUS"
"What?? Well...ummm. Did I say that?? Hmmm...mumble, Cod Liver Oil...mumble...Vitamin C... mumble...you'll be fiiiiine"
"Are we gonnnnaaa diiiiieeee????" (wailing)
"No, well everyone is going to die some day, but, NO, " (not yet...anyway) "Look, he's gone the other way... hey, look at all this candy!"
There are just some situations you never imagine yourself in and some conversations that need to end quickly!
We hope you all had a Happy (chemical free) Halloween!
We had a lot of fun but really missed our usual Halloween adventures with the Archbold's in St. Paul (i.e. mommies hand out the candy and drink the wine and daddies take the kids trick-or-treating, followed by play time and candy craziness for the kids and take-out for the adults...pretty fair, in my book!) It doesn't seem quite right not to have our annual picture of all the kids dressed up sitting on the stairs...
The Fischers
Alive and Well in Bangalore, India
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