Encouraging Gore and Creativity

To say that Halloween is a pretty big deal around here is an understatement. We usually spend weeks planning our costumes and buying the best of treats for family parties and trick-or-treaters. Storage boxes are pulled and I deck the house with as much decor as most use for Christmas. Even my husband yields to my evil wishes and wears a costume with a bit of convincing.



Here we are, inspired by the "Exorcism of Emily Rose". What a lovely couple.

Anyway..... every year my kids rip through the catalogs and ads, picking again and again what costume looks the coolest. I fork out 40 bucks or so, per child, and I am done with it. But every year they wear their new costume to school and realize it stinks, or fits funny, and the plastic is sticky/itchy/gaggy. So they come home and change into an old, used, tried and true costume for Trick-or-Treating.

This year I gently persuaded them to stop the insanity. For 15 bucks (that's right folks, 15 bucks!) I will pay them to make their own costume. I, of course, will provide gory make-up and colored hairspray, but I want them to dig, plan, mix and match with all the joys of Halloween's past. They all agreed to this idea and got paid on Saturday (and spent, might I add, every penny). I also decided to only put up a small, select few of my decorations. Just a small NOD to Halloween, rather than a house wide salute.

Now I will just sit back and let them discover for themselves the joy of making a disguise worthy of candy by the pounds. That is what this holiday reminds me of the most. And I have to say, this has been a nice October so far.