There’s nothing like waiting until the last minute to decide that you need a costume for the youth group’s Fall Party on the Friday night before Halloween. My dear sweet 17-year-old daughter has been lazily considering cosplay (definition to follow for us older folk) options from her current wardrobe all week and watching the weather forecast very, very carefully.
When Friday’s high was predicted to be 58 on Wednesday morning, she went into anxiety overdrive. She became obsessed with sorting through her options, searching for the warmest ones. Earlier in the week, I had offered her my previous costumes; she quickly rejected Princess Leia, Betsy Ross, and a medieval queen.
Then I recommended she sort through the two large bins of costumes in her brother’s room. He had contacted me on October 1 and requested both his pirate costume and his revolutionary war costume for a blended effect.
A few hours into Wednesday, she finally rummaged through the family costume bins, dejectedly feeling no spark of interest.
We ate lunch. Then she noted that straight-line storms were headed our way and should be terrorizing the South by 5 p.m. I sighed and said, “Let’s go to Target.” I’ve never seen her get ready to leave the house so quickly!
Target personnel were busy putting out the Christmas pjs. The Halloween stuff was in the far back corner on a couple of aisles. They were basically out of everything related to Fall.
Plan 2 was JoAnn’s next door. We flew through the rain. OK, it was just a sprinkle at that point. Anyway, we picked up a couple of yards of bright red fleece and headed home.
I studied a few DIY cape patterns that I found on Pinterest last night, and today I put together a Little Red Riding Hood cloak while she was at school. For some reason, I learn best from my mistakes, especially in the sewing craft. After a few removals of seams and using myself as a dress dummy, I finished my simple cape. It is so warm that I’m afraid she’ll wear it for 10 minutes and then discard it on the back of the hayride.
I fussed at her a little bit during this escapade, and she sweetly reminded me that I don’t like her to plan things too far in advance. (Eye roll here. She usually plans her birthday desserts and party themes YEARS in advance.)
Her birthday is in April. I now know what I’ll get her for her birthday: a costume for Halloween!
