Halloween

For Halloweens of our childhood, my brother and I were dressed in whatever costumes my mom could come up with.  She didn't care about cute or impressing other playgroup moms.  No, she just needed something costume-like for us trick-or-treat in, which is how my brother had to wear Lederhosen for a few years in a row.  Despite my disinterest in dressing up in costumes, whether for Halloween or a costume party, (I'm admittedly the party-pooper who shows up at Halloween parties in my regular clothes) I thought I'd go all out for Halloween once I had kids.  Oliver is only two and I think Halloween is just going to serve as a reminder of how uncreative and unmotivated I can be.   

Oliver was a lion last year because I happened to be able to borrow a costume.  I was going to use having a new baby as an excuse to not dress Oliver up this year, especially since he doesn't get Halloween yet and wouldn't care one way or another, but peer pressure got to me again.  First all my friends were talking excitedly about what their kids were dressing up as and then Oliver got an invitation to his first Halloween party with his toddler friends.  Wanting my kid to fit in, I found myself on Ebay looking for a costume.  Chris and I had decided to dress Oliver as Charlie Brown since the costume wouldn't require anything Oliver just might refuse to wear, like a hat, mask, boots or props.  Those same friends who had all the cool costumes for their kids discovered that two is a difficult year for dressing up.  One-year-olds have no clue what's going on and go along with anything, while three-year-olds actually get excited for Halloween and want to wear their costumes.  Two-year-olds on the other hand have to fight everything, particularly putting on a potentially uncomfortable costume for a holiday they have little understanding of.  I decided we had the perfect two-year-old-friendly costume when I found a cute, authentic-looking toddler size Charlie Brown shirt on Ebay. 

Oliver still didn't get Halloween this year.  He liked coloring the pumpkins at the Halloween party and although he reluctantly followed us over to our neighbors with his plastic jack-o-lantern candy pail, he was excited when he got a box of raisins.