Breaking the Rules

Halloween is my 2nd favorite holiday after my birthday. It's the best day of the year for breaking all the rules. Now that the kids are bigger, they have begun to issue the Halloween Challenge every year. It goes like this: They come up with a costume, I make it. This year's challenge accepted and completed:

Chewbacca

My wee hooligan has developed an obssession with Star Wars over the last year. His character of choice: Chewbacca. I will add here that he has NEVER seen any of the Star Wars movies. Everything he knows about it, he knows from books and his Daddy's Lego Star Wars Wii game. So, in the interests of this darling little face, I broke my rule about licensed characters and made him a Wookiee suit. The one rule I won't break, Halloween or no, is the weapon rule. He is a disarmed Chewbacca, carrying a carrot instead of a blaster.

Peacock girl

We did a little gender-bending for my wee girl's costume. She wanted to be a peacock, and a fabulous peacock she was. She designed the layout of the costume and I executed it. She wanted to be able to display her plumage at will, so we attached her tail to her cape and she could spread it out into a beautiful peacock tail. Not a peahen tail. They're not as fabulous.

Heading out to take candy from strangers.

And of course, one of the biggest rules broken every Halloween: taking candy from strangers. Lots and lots of candy. And eating candy. Lots and lots of candy. One year we went to a local event (it shall remain nameless because it's pretty popular and just because I wasn't thrilled with it doesn't mean that other people don't love it). Anyway, this local event was a chance for the kiddos to do some trick-or-treating around in a community setting. The "treats" were all things like product samples, magnets advertising local businesses and toothbrushes. I agree in theory that gorging oneself on candy is unhealthy for any number of reasons, but once a year, can't we lighten up a little bit?!

Buffy and Angel : Breaking all the rules.

And, lastly, my favorite bit of rule-breaking: the primping rules. The make up comes out. Hair spray, wigs, leather pants from another lifetime. There is nothing like running into your neighbors while you're dressed like Buffy the Vampire Slayer to boost the confidence. This is one day a year when, young and old, we get to be something else and only our imagination limits what that "something else" is. Break some rules, eat some candy, love a vampire, have some fun.