Halloween

Two years ago when Isaac was two years old, I wrote a post about how I thought I would enjoy Halloween more when he was a little bit older. Specifically I thought it would be more fun when he could get involved with choosing and planning his own costume. And I was right!

This year Isaac said he wanted to be a police officer. He was a construction worker for the previous two years, and I had expected more of the same. Even so, I wasn't surprised by his choice because I knew he would want to be a worker of some sort. His games always involve him being a tree service worker, plumber, construction worker, tow truck driver, paramedic, garbage collector, and so forth. Even when he makes art, it is important to him to say that he is an artist -- he is not content to be a little boy drawing a picture.

And he also pretends to be a police officer, mostly the ticket-writing and pirate-catching type.

He had the police helmet and sheriff's badge already, just for dress-up, so the costume was well on its way. After some judicious questioning, I learned that the police radio was the most crucial element to him. So I got a small cardboard box, a utility knife, some black electrical tape, and a phone cord. Safety-pinned to his shoulder, it makes a pretty convincing police radio! We skipped the gun, but I did make him a billy club out of a cardboard tube and more electrical tape. He already owned the clothes, even though I had to fish the shirt out of the give-away box because it was too small.

I had a really good time putting it all together, and Isaac had fun too. I was sure to involve him in the creative process, so he can learn that a costume doesn't have to be something prefabricated that you buy in a package at the store.

Isaac's preschool had a Halloween parade on Friday, and Craig took both kids trick-or-treating on our block tonight. They went to about seven houses and had a lot of fun. Isaac said he thought Halloween was even better than Christmas, because you get to dress up, eat candy, and stay up late. He also said he is going to keep wearing his costume even though Halloween is over. That's the kind of attitude I like to see! No reason you can't dress up all year round.

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Laurel had a costume, too, of sorts. She wore her regular clothes, but she also had this very cool pirate hat, which was a gift from her paternal grandparents. The pumpkin served to distract her from the hat, which otherwise would have been removed and chewed.

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And, just for fun, here is last year's Halloween post. It has links to Isaac's Halloween costumes of the past.