Sunday, October 21, 2007

Saturday searching

for a Halloween costume for Cheese
He wanted lots of weapons, and got several

He had no interest in a face mask

or in any face paint

He desperately wanted this afro wig. But I told him I knew his dad would say no.

He really really really wanted this Toto in a basket. Bob couldn't work out how you work Toto into a Shadow Ninja Sith costume, so he refused to buy him.

Now this, this really scares me. Are people actually going out into the world wearing these costumes? Quite different from the common female costumes of fairies, princesses, french maids, belly dancers, kitty cats, et cetera. The giant baby, and the clown ones, really freak me out. (not shown here)

nothing artisitic, just straight up documentation
by the bye, Cheese is walking around in costume now, I have been stabbed by several plastic weapons as I wrote this.
Have I mentioned that I am anti-violence and monitor closely all his media viewing, and never let him have a toy water gun?
ah, I remember fondly all the years of dressing him up in furry Tiger costumes.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

A brilliant bit of photojournalism, Taffiny.
Halloween was never a big deal here when I was a kid, it's only recently that all sorts of Halloween stuff has started popping up in the shops and because I have no childhood reference for it, it means nothing to me. It also means that when the kids come trick or treating I play the mean old witch and pretend to be out!
It's a shame that we lose the real meaning of so many of our rituals and celebrations to commercialisation.
Really enjoyed your story and hope that Cheese doesn't stab mom too badly with all his weapons - best you learn to cackle evilly! ;-)

Taffiny said...

Vanilla,
Halloween in U.S.A is certainly an odd sort of holiday, weird costumes, and going door to door, getting candy from strangers. I was raised on it though, and have fond memories, so now I take my son trick or treating, and give out treats to other kids.

It does of course lose a lot of its original meaning (from Mexico?) (about all of it) as the day of the dead, a time for everyone to get together and remember and feel closer to, those who we love, who have passed on. It would be nice if we had a ritual like that.

I do find magic in our holidays, but I do admit the commercialism can be piled high all around it. But still they are fun. Twinkly lights, decorations, food. Transforming our spaces. Doing activites together. Neighbors just BOO'd us today, which means treats have been anonymously left at our front door (in this case, peanut butter cookies and pumpkin pie), and now we will BOO two other neighbors. (though it is true as I don't cook this will mean going to the store to buy something).

I am glad you enjoyed my talk of Saturday, I shall practice my evil cackle as soon as my cold goes away ( I suppose I could threaten to cough and sneeze on the boy, that should make him stop!)

Thanks for coming by and commenting.

Wanderlust Scarlett said...

Fun costume shopping!

I was with you all the way through, no violent media... everything, until you got to no water guns.
Really?

I still play with them.... all in fun. bubble guns are fun too; I think maybe, if there are guns, water and bubbles are the best things that could come out of them.

Or silly string.

Scarlett & Viaggiatore

Taffiny said...

Scarlett,
Oh you know we used to insist on water toys that looked like fish and whales, et cetera, and he could squirt water out of those. But....somewhere along the line of time of the last few years, Grandma started buying him those huge blaster water guns, and goo guns, and yes bubble guns. You know as presents, all wrapped up, so we wouldn't know till the kid had them in his hot little hands, what they were. So yes indeed he does now have such toys.

I do admit I have been selfish on the matter of silly string, no messy string has been played with in my home, but perhaps I can still right this wrong, perhaps the next time we go to grandma's house we should take silly string with us. :)