I am sad to say that last Halloween was an end of an era. And I am embarking on new ground this Halloween.
You see in the past we have had family themed costumes. We usually based our theme on the kid with the strongest interest at the time. Elle ruled the roost for the first few years and we dressed up around her.
Then Crew grew an opinion and we indulged his Buzz Light Year fascination two years in a row. We all took on different Toy Story characters.
We changed it up just a bit for year two. Dad stayed as Woody, but I went as Stinky Pete, Croft was Jesse, and Elle made a much cuter Bo Peep than I did.
But this year as we sat down in our September Family Meeting I asked the kids, “Do you want your costumes to be around a family theme or do you want to be on your own?” There was a unanimous and resounding “On our own!”
(Note to self: Don’t ask the question, unless you are emotionally prepared for the answer.)
A piece of me died, even though I knew the revolution was coming. Crew has been pulling away for a couple of years now. Here he bucked the Peter Pan idea and opted for a Star Wars character instead.
I accepted the kids wishes, but I just couldn’t get excited about Halloween this year. I just didn’t care as much. I decided to make less and buy more. I am borrowing one costume from my SIL and re-using one from a few years ago. And I have no plans to dress up this year.
I am not sure if my apathy is a stage that will pass or a progression into a better way.
We’ll see how I feel about doing less on Nov. 1? If I have regrets for slacking or if I made the right call? I guess I will see how the kids feel. If they are happy; then I should be happy too. They don’t seem to care that Wendy, Captain Jack Sparrow, Strawberry Shortcake, and a no-name pirate have nothing to do with each other. I guess I should get over it too.
(But I haven’t given up hope that one day the family theme costumes will return. My dream is that one day my family will be the Scooby Doo Gang. How perfect would that be?)
![I spoke in church today and said the Atonement of Jesus Christ is the greatest act of Charity. I read Moroni 7:45-47 to make my point. But wherever there was the word ‘Charity’ I substituted it out for ‘the Atonement of Jesus Christ.’ See if these scripture verses now have new meaning for you:
“And the Atonement of Jesus Christ suffererth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth in the truth,
[The Atonement of Jesus Christ] beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not the Atonement of Jesus Christ, ye are nothing, for the Atonement of Jesus Christ never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto the Atonement of Jesus Christ, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail-
But the Atonement of Jesus Christ is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.”
So Easter really reminds us of love. The first and greatest commandment.](https://www.raisinglemons.com/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed-pro/img/placeholder.png)
Awww. So cute, you guys really go all out. I have opted for do your own costume after dealing with tears forcing the 3 boys to do 3 musketeers. It was pretty cute, but it seems so much easier borrowing costumes and using old ones to make them happy for the one night. I’m more lazy though. 🙂
I’m trying to convince Jared to go to a Halloween party as popeye and me as olive oil and Lydia as sweet pea. I haven’t done anything about it though. See, I’m too lazy. 🙂
I lover looking at all of these pictures and the memories of them. I never have gotten to see your whole family dressed up, so it’s fun to see you and Chad in costume too. I must say, you make one heck of a Stinky Pete!
I just found your blog through the DIY project, and I saw the title of this post and I was totally laughing! It is almost identical to a post that I just did a few days ago about our Halloween costumes this year. I guess great minds think alike 🙂 Haha! This was our first year without a “theme” too, and I kinda had a hard time with it. In the end, I have to admit, it was a lot easier and my boys were so happy to finally pick their OWN costumes (that didn’t have to be part of a theme!) I’m your newest follower 🙂