Each year the kids' school puts on a Halloween party complete with tasty food, sweet treats, a dj, a haunted house, pumpkin contest, games, crafts, and a costume contest. Last year my little stinkers took home first prize for the best group contest. You may remember me posting the pics...
I knew that there was pretty much no way we could do better than those costumes from last year so the pressure was off. This year the kids just dug through our huge bucket of costumes and picked out something that suited them.
Grace ended up being Belle (and really, she did look so much like Belle. I wish I would have gotten a good shot of her hair all done up in a bun with curls coming down- she was THRILLED), Ben was Harry Potter (even though there were three other Harry Potters at the party and some of them with authentic ties and scarves and cloaks, ah well- Ben was the only one with the SCAR!), Tommy went as a creepy ghost, and Joe went as Jason (even though he has never seen the movies).
Joey had planned on going as a bumblebee as a joke. He put on this bumblebee costume (toddler sized) and it made us laugh so hard. He was really excited to wear it until he told his friends at school about it and they didn't really get it. Dang. I still got a couple of funny pics of him in the costume, though. Possible blackmail?
Of course I had to dress up because I am a gigantic nerd and I love Halloween. This year I decided to pick a costume that would be a bit like therapy for me.
When I was a kid my mom made me wear a clown costume (it was my brother's hand me down) on Halloween for approximately 4 years in a row until my bff stepped in and offered me one of her extra costumes. I hated that clown costume. Mostly because I was terrified of clowns and it seemed like a cruel joke to make me dress up as one.
I hate clowns. I mean hate. There are very few things I am afraid of and clowns are definitely on that short list. I am terrified of clowns.
It started in Kindergarten when Ronald McDonald came to visit our class. He was enormously tall and I was sitting on the floor in the front row. He kept bending down putting his makeup caked face right in my face and talking to me. He smelled like sausage. And looking back now I think he was drunk. He kept saying things that didn't make sense ("Promise me, kids, that when you are old enough to drive and you see a yellow light you will SLOW DOWN!!!"). Even the teachers were looking at each other wondering what he was doing. He scared the crap out of me and thus began my fear of clowns.
Stephen King did not help my fear either, if it needs to be said.
So, anyway, I decided to dress up as a clown this year and see if that would have any affect on my silly fear of clowns.
Nope. No affect. As a matter of fact, as I was putting on my makeup I was trying to make it more cutsey and yet every time I stood back and took a look I thought, "Nope. Still creepy." Ugh. Stupid clowns. Stupid costume.
Despite our less than thrilling costumes we still managed to have a good time at the party. Joey disappeared to hang with his friends and Tommy, Ben, and Grace made approximately eighteen thousand crafts for me to carry home. The kids stuffed their faces with spookey treats, screamed through the haunted house, danced up a storm, and ran around after their friends.
8 comments:
When the kidlets have big smiles like that, it sure is a success.
I have often wondered about what it is exactly that makes people fearful of clowns. I guess the close up view at a young age has a bigger impact than a clown at a distance. I had to laugh though when you said he smelled of sausage. That would have done it for me.. I dislike sausage!
The kids look adorable. As do you. I'm so glad they had a good time. And presumably, they don't have a fear of clowns. ;)
Hilary- You know, over the years I tried very hard to hide my fear of clowns from my kids. At every parade I would busy myself with the diaper bag or excuse myself to go to the bathroom when the clowns passed. I didn't want my fear to be passed on to my kids. Then other people started bringing it up in front of my kids and they found out about it. They mostly think it is funny. They've had good experiences with clowns (the church picnic clown is fantastic for them- I still keep my distance).
Funny story- I went to pick up Ben from a friend's birthday party and was unaware that there was a clown there. The minute I walked into the room I began sweating. Badly. Even when I found out that the clown was actually their very own 1st grade teacher I still kept sweating and stayed on the other side of the room.
That same teacher came up to me at the party last night and asked if my costume meant I was over my fear. I told her it was therapy and it wasn't working. HA! I'm crazy.
I love that you dressed up; you looked great! I love the costumes from last year too; what a cute theme! And I loved what they went as this year too!
Sounded like a fun time for all!
I have heard others having fears of clowns too. Me when I was younger was afraid to go on an escalator; could not step on it. I'm rarely on one these days but I still approach them cautiously years later (and I didn't have a bad experience with them, just don't know why I didn't like them)
betty
I understand. While I'm not afraid of clowns, I can't deal with all the fake spider stuff at Halloween. I never wanted to touch spider crafts my kids made....hahaha!
Sounds like such a fun evening of Halloween activities at your kids' school. Hope you enjoyed the great weather we've had this weekend. It's been amazing!
I have to agree, clowns are freaky. You sure make a cute one, but overall, not a fan!
It's a bummer they won't theme you anymore, but at the same time, just like you, I'm glad my kiddos and yours find them in the buckets of "already haves" and we don't have to spend any more money!
I'm not a fan of clowns either. But I think you look great - you're such a good sport!
And the kids look fantastic too!
Oh man too bad the friends ruined the bumble bee idea, how funny! You crack me up with the whole clown thing… clowns scare the you know what out of me! It was a pretty cute outfit for a clown though. ;)
Post a Comment