Tag Archives: modern kiddo halloween

Halloween Was a {pinata} Smashing Success.

Kiddo Holidays, , ,

Wow, was Halloween just last week?? This fall is flying by friends! So many of you have asked me what Wolfie decided to go as for Halloween and as you can see, he did it again. Wolfie (Mr. “I Hate Costumes”) stunned us all last year when he decided he wanted to be a meatball. A MEATBALL! He was spectacular, if I do say so myself (see it all here). This year my quirky cool boy decided he wanted to be a piñata. And I was thrilled! You have to understand friends, this is the child who practically refused to dress up for the first 6 years of his little life. Wolfie was never a pirate/superhero/cowboy hat wearing little guy. I was always so envious of people with “dress up boxes”. But my little opinionated fella was not into it. This “coming up with costumes” thing is all new for us, and Greg and I are enjoying it SO much.

We decided to go with the classic donkey shape. It all began with a cardboard box, cut out on the top and bottom. Pretty simple, right? Welllll, sort of. It got really tricky when it came to the head. Unlike a real pinata (which is hollow but still has a structure) this was pretty much an unstable pain in the donkey. I wish I had photographed the entire process, all fancy-like….numbered “steps” and what not. But the reality was I had to work on after hours and it was too dark….so this is all I got for ya!

Wolfie is a self-avowed sweets/chocolate hater—so Halloween is never really about the candy for him. (He’s a salty fan—popcorn, tortilla chips, pretzels!) Anyway, his “concept” was that because he doesn’t like candy, it’s be funny to be a pinata and throw candy at the kids. We did have a brief moment of “What if people try and hit me for candy??” And yes. Some kids eagerly rushed over grinning mischievously. But Wolfie told them he was a backwards pinata—if you hit him, you don’t get any candy. If you tell him something nice, he’ll give you a treat. (He had a secret pocket inside with ziplock baggie of candies!) Needless to say he got lots of nice words from kids clamoring for candy, and was a big hit at the school parade!

He really looked so cute. Honestly 75% of the kids were dressed in dark or black costumes: ninjas, witches, ghouls, draculas….my little pinata was a colorful beacon of silliness. I couldn’t have been prouder! And the kids at his school were awesome. He’s at that age when all the boys just want to be cool and dress like cartoons they love, and Wolfie really stuck out like a sore thumb. I was so happy that all the kids were SUPER into his costume too. YAY kids! There were some other really excellent costumes—a great Harry Potter (with Hedwig the owl), my friend Teri’s little girl was an amazing Mexican wrestler, Wolfie’s friend was Poseidon, and there was a genius Cloud with Lightning.

Wolfie’s teacher was an adorable Red Riding Hood:

On Halloween night we added a sombrero, which kind took the whole thing up a notch! I’m half German (my mama) but also half Mexican (my dad is from Mexico) so grandmama and grandpa got a huge kick out of this! Wolfie was quite pleased that lots of the houses he trick-or-treated at said he was their favorite costume (and some places even gave him extra candy!). Our friends in Alameda invited us over to their neighborhood and whew mama, those guys TURN. IT. OUT. There were 100s of people swarming the streets….crazy decorations. It was amazing but also kind of overwhelming!

At the end of the night, he and his buddies sat on the floor counting out their stash. He decided to give each of his friends four pieces of chocolate apiece (yeah, if you want more candy trick-or-treat with Wolfie!). Even though he doesn’t eat it, he still likes to look over his loot and count it etc. And just so you don’t think he’s a complete crazy boy with his non-sweets loving ways, he IS a big a fan of cherry or strawberry lollipops/ring pops!

How was your Halloween? Is your neighborhood mellow or crazy with candy lovers? What did you end up going as? Am I going to get some new fabulous contenders for the Costume Parade next year??? SO many questions!

When Your Kiddo Hates Costumes.

Real Life : Alix, ,

I posted a version of this story last year and you all got so much joy from my pain….I thought it was worth sharing again. And I have a little update too….

It’s true. I’m a mama who love to dress up. I love fashion and I love being “festive” and dressing up in general. Like this:

 

And even this:

As a result, Halloween has always been one of my favorite times of year. When I found out I was having a little boy, I was so excited when about all the dress-up, play time possibilities. I had visions of making him superhero capes…astronaut outfits…cool pirate get ups. The works! Yet life clearly has a sense of humor, because I was blessed with the world’s most adorable child…who hated costumes. He’s an impossibly good natured boy, who is so easy going 99% of the time—he happily wears any regular outfit I put him in. Except, of course, when that outfit might involve a character.

It all began with Wolfie’s strict NO HATS policy as a baby. Wait, no hats? What what? He’s a baby! How can he hate hats? Trust me.

When Wolfie was one, I bought a little prefab puppy dog outfit for Halloween. But because that seemed just a tad boring on it’s own, I had Greg dress up like a Westminster Dog Show handler—with Wolfie as his prize-winning pooch! Since Wolfie was still so little and liked to be carried around, they made an awesome pair.

Except my sad little pup refused to wear the “hood” that had the puppy head on it. Too much like a hat, of course.

At least I managed to sneakily draw a little nose and whiskers on him and he still looked pretty adorable.

The next year I got him the cutest little cowboy outfit…it came with wee chaps, a cowboy shirt and a super cute lil vest. I didn’t even try and add a cowboy hat, but I figured this outfit was pretty much like regular clothes. Easy peasy, right? WRONG. What I neglected to remember was that Wolfie is a very proper little man and he liked his jackets and hoodies closed or zipped up. And a vest? Well it’s like a perpetually “open” jacket. Yeah the vest? He didn’t like it ONE BIT.


He threw himself on the ground like a cartoon character, sobbing. Keep in mind that normally Wolfie is the sweetest, most low-drama kiddo around. Greg and I looked at each other half laughing and half shaking our heads….like “Really? You’re going to throw yourself on the ground over a VEST?” Thankfully he gets over things pretty quickly and once the offending vest was removed, he was all sunshine again.

The next year I had a great plan….and seemingly Wolfie-proof! Greg and I would go as Mr. & Mrs. Frankenstein—and Wolfie? He would be the Crazy Mad Scientist. Genius, right? All he’d have to do was wear a wee little lab coat (buttoned all the way up, of course) and make his hair all crazy. It was the perfect plan. Greg looked great.

I even left Wolfie help me put on my “spooky” eye make up so he wouldn’t be scared—this was a huge success.

But when it came time for his own costume, well…once again, you can see how Wolfie felt about all this:

I explained to him that Halloween was all about dressing up, and if he didn’t like the Mad Scientist outfit he could really be anything he wanted to. After some thought he declared. “I wanna be a punkin.” I was a little floored. “Um…..a pumpkin?” “Yes. Punkin, mama.” My costume-adverse child goes and picks the roundest, poofiest costume around?? “Wolfie, you know a pumpkin is very round, right? Are you sure you want to be a pumpkin?” “YES. PUNKIN.” OK. So I have to admit that I was totally a terrible mom and thought this was a lame costume idea (I know, I KNOW), but I wanted him to be happy, so a pumpkin it was. I searched high and low for a non-poofy pumpkin costume and FINALLY found one (it ain’t easy, folks). I came home triumphant. YES! Wolfie will be so excited! Except……

Oy! I can’t lie. It became a Battle Royale. He was going to wear that freakin’ pumpkin costume if it killed me. I finally calmed him down and like all savvy moms…..I negotiated a bribe. “Listen. If you wear the costume, I’ll give you something. Something good.” His ears perked up. “What?” he sniffled. “Um…you can have some chips.” Yes. I know. Bribing with snacks. What can I say? I was desperate. And Wolfie’s a salty boy, so this worked better than the promise of chocolate. With a sigh, he was resigned to his fate:

The final verdict: “I’ll wear it. But I won’t like it.”

By the next day (which was actually Halloween) he had a miraculous change of heart and happily wore Ze Pumpkin. Hallelujah!

Oh my silly little Wolfie. I’m happy to report the last two years were amazingly struggle free and he has decided costumes (and HATS!) are A-OK. His friend Emmy got him into Pokemon and decided he wanted to be Pikachu. Not only did he wear the outfit, he wore the kooky hat dealie too! Whooo hoo! It was a cheap-ass flamable costume, but HE WAS WEARING A COSTUME. Listen, I’ll take what I can get. And apparently this is a rather “rare” costume, and he got lots of props from the big kids who all shouted at him, “We chose YOU Pikachu!” He was beaming.

The next year he continued the Pokemon theme and dressed up as Ash, Pikachu’s owner.

And this year? Well, once again little Wolfie has rocked my world. He informed me that he was thinking of being Harry Potter……or a meatball. Yep, you heard right. A MEAT BALL. And folks, I’m pleased to report that the meatball won. He and Greg have been working on a paper mache proto type and I’m in charge helping with the noodle hat. Oh this boy of mine…