You’ve done it all for Halloween for your kids. You’ve created a spooky costumed celebration sparked by their imagination, creating a veritable fall festival of make believe in orange and black. But at the last minute, when your child asks, “Mom, what will you be for Halloween?” make sure you have an answer. Halloween is for you, too! Enjoy it!
Perhaps you used to love Halloween. Perhaps, before kids, you threw some great adult costume parties. But perhaps also your feelings about Halloween have changed. You spend so much time doing for your kids that you’ve forgotten to make it fun for you. This year, change that. Breathe new life into your Halloween; start with your Halloween costume.
Appropriateness
What was cute and fun in your single years might not be so appropriate now. When Cynthia Nixon and Sarah-Jessica Parker lamented the Halloween costume options for adult women in Sex an the City: The Movie, moms everywhere groaned in agreement. Neither witches nor sexy kittens are quite what you are looking for. We want costumes that tell a little about who we are, won’t be too spooky so as to scare the neighbor kids — and won’t cause embarrassment if we see our kids’ principal when out trick-or-treating.
Aren’t you clever!
A parent’s Halloween costume is an opportunity to show your clever, creative side. Think beyond the party store packaged costume aisles and go for the slightly offbeat getup. While it is, of course, just fine for your daughter to be a princess and your son to be a superhero (or visa versa, actually), think beyond the norm. How would you, for example, go as a piece of gum? Or demonstrate a pun? Or a cultural saying such as “raining cats and dogs?” Try for a costume that, as you walk the neighborhood with your princess and superhero, the neighbors must stop to think about for a moment — and then say, “Awesome!”
Matchy-matchy?
Some parents take this opportunity to match or complement their child’s costume. This is great fun — if your child is willing. Your son or daughter may not want you to usurp their costume effort. But if your child is willing, you can be queen to your child’s princess, Alfred to your child’s Batman, Joe Torre to your child’s Derek Jeter, or any number of other combinations. In the world of make-believe, almost anything goes!
Halloween can be so much fun for kids, and it can be fun for you, too. Let your imagination run wild and come up with a Halloween costume that will breathe new life into this fun fall festival for you.
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