Not Herself

I love Halloween. It has always been my favorite holiday. Halloween has always been the most unconditional of the holidays to me. You don't have to be good, wait for Santa to get a paycheck or pretend not to be disappointed when your holiday dreams don't come true.

Best of all, you get to be anyone else. Anyone or thing that you want to be. As a kid growing up in a very rough household, it was awesome to have that break from the heaviness and burdens of secrets and deceit. I didn't have to be that kid that was being hit or yelled at. The possibilities were endless!

My parents made (or let us make) our own costumes every year. I never had a store bought costume for Halloween and now that I have Z, I have made all of her Halloween costumes as well. She has already decided (in March) what she wants to be this year.

Now that Z is really hitting the age of dress up, I am supporting it wholeheartedly. We hardly leave the house when she is not in costume (and since she's mostly naked, this is a huge feat for us). The deliberation revolving what she we will wear to what event is tremendous.

When we recieve an invitation to a birthday party, she wants to know what the theme is. Lollypop birthday party? A pink top and a flouncy skirt. How to Train Your Dragon party? A Viking she will be. Princess party (every party that we are invited to lately)? Then it is one of the multitude of princess costumes in her dress up closet. As soon as she has figured out what she we will wear to what event, I mark it on the calendar to ensure that Hubs is also aware, in case he is the one escorting her.

I love that she believes that she can be anyone or anything at anytime. A change of a hat or skirt and she is suddenly a cowboy, a dragon slayer, a hip hop dancer. I am so happy that her imagination has no limits and that she is completely unhibited in her own skin.

It makes everyday feel like Halloween.

*If you still shop at Wal-Mart, you can go the weekend after Halloween and score most of their costumes at 90% off. I did that this past year and was able to get 10 costumes for less that $20. It helped me stock up the dress up closet quite a bit.