Friday, October 31, 2008

Happy Hallo-tween!

Today, bloggers all around cyberspace are most likely going to post something about Halloween. So I'll fall into line, too. I've read enough mom blogs to know that moms are not very happy about the costume choices available for our children. Our options are either inspired by Disney or by Penthouse. Not much in between.
My 15-year-old wanted to be a bumblebee this year. Cute idea. But the $29.99 costume at Party City included Barbie-sized shorts that exposed 3/4 of my daughter's ass. Worried that my teen would be picked up for prostitution as she walks the streets tonight, we decided to make our own. (I'll have to post the photo later after I take it tonight.)

My tween wanted to be a waitress this year, but again, what was commercially available was completely inappropriate for an 11-year-old, who happens to be very tall for her age and wears teen-sized clothing. I could just imagine the snarky comments she'd get from the boys at school: "Yes, I'll have one waitress with nothing on her, please." So, we snubbed Party City and all the other like costume stores and went straight to the source: We rented a waitress uniform from Ruby's Diner for $20, and they were more than happy to oblige. We also bought a serving tray at Target ($5) and then made a fake shake with a plastic glass we had at home and stuffed it with white tissue paper. Done deal!

Moms -- THIS is the kind of creative thinking you need to do every Halloween -- let your children be who or what they want to be, but pull together the costume yourself. Let's stop giving creative control to the costume manufacturers, who think that what is best for our children is to dress them up like little pimps and whores.

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