Halloween Costume Mea Culpa
31 October 2010
As a kid I was scornful of other kids with costumes clearly made by their parents, or store bought. As the mother of Professor Daughter, I sewed every costume, until she took over.
By the time Professor Daughter grew the thick curly hair she has to this day, she had taken over costume selection. Her first choice was a simple-to-sew witch’s get-up. Nothing truly earth shaking, but it ended up being the winner for the library’s preschool Halloween parade. Professor Daughter’s previous years’ costumes had not required hats. (Although her very first costume, Raggedy Ann, required a red yarn wig.) Like my cooking skills, my sewing skills have always been more about enthusiasm than expertise. So the witch’s hat had a wide brim that stood out and a conical top that folded over no matter how much stuffing I plugged in.
So my tiny curly haired blonde, the only witch with a floppy top, stole the parade. Which of course only served to encourage me to make more costumes. By the next August, Professor Daughter and I hit the fabric store. While I poured over the patterns in McCalls and Simplicity, she flipped the pages until she hit the one she wanted. Of course she already knew. CareBear. Rainbow Bear. Pink fake fur. Big stuffed head.
There was only one hitch. We lived in South Florida, where Halloween is never cooler than the 80’s. This costume would have easily warmed our only daughter in Alaska, but for Florida heat and humidity. . . She insisted. I sewed it. And it was pretty impressive.
The Prince Consort helped her into it. He escorted her the ordered paces behind, and collected the bits she shed as she overheated. She returned home, red-faced warm and candy laden. There was no discussion about her choice. The next August she was ready to pick a costume, but even after we moved north, she never selected a faux fur costume again.
My fault. I should have let her go through my old clothes and make her own costumes?
Nah. I wouldn’t change a thing.
Kath
