End of an Era

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?)