A Mother’s Halloween Horror

This past weekend was all about Halloween. It revolved around the holiday so much that practically every kid was already trick-or-treating Friday night. Then there was me and Magdalene. By Sunday evening, I still had not taken her trick-or-treating. I hadn’t even figured her costume out.

It all started on Thursday when I made a trip to Mood fabrics to buy materials to create a lion mane and tail. Magdalene was going to be the lion from The Wizard of Oz. That was my original plan until I found out that just making the tail would come out to $60. That was far out of my budget. It was my fault since I desperately wanted a DIY but forgot about budgeting. I was only thinking about making Magdalene a lion this year…or something close to it.

As I gave the materials back to the sales associate I thought, what would she be now? 

Her dad called three Babies ‘R’ Us stores to ask if they had a Minnie Mouse tutu dress in stock. No, no, no. They only had for 6 month olds and it was already Friday. What a disaster!

In the meantime, her dad bought her a black leotard and black tights since we both settled on making her a kitty. All we needed was a pair of ears and tail. I didn’t want to resort to something so simple but I had to.

By Sunday, we went to Home Goods and Target to search for any costume or set of ears and tail. Maybe I was going to the wrong places or maybe I was just being extra picky. But we still needed to go to Home Goods for home goods hehe. 

My hopes got lifted again when we saw a Dorothy dress; it was the last in stock. The time was four o’clock and I had to run around to search for ruby red slippers, blue socks, and puppy Toto all in Target and all in an hour; time was really ticking. We found a Toto look-alike but no ruby red slippers or blue socks. Oh and the costume was missing the blue hair ribbons; I became frustrated. Her dad had to go to work and the line was extra long. It wasn’t worth it to buy an incomplete costume and an expensive stuffed animal all for one day. So I said, we’ll do kitty then. I’ll just paint some whiskers on her face with the body markers we have at home.

I kid you not, in the middle of the night my memory sparked. I remembered I had saved a dance costume that was given to me. It was for a four year old so of course it was forgotten in the back of the closet. Magdalene was only a newborn when it was given to me but nevertheless I had saved it; dance costumes are precious and expensive. 

I became restless to get to work and make her a dancing kitty. I woke up at six am ready to make my baby into a kitty. I tried to do her makeup all in her sleep but she awoke and the markers were dry. Hmph! I had to resort to using my eyeliner and lipstick. I was refraining from this choice because it can be a messy choice if she rubs her face or sweats.

For the ears, I managed make some type of headdress with her own hair. It all worked out in the end. Of course I was still tired but the only thing that mattered to me was the happy expression she had while getting into her costume.

People without children would fail to understand the restlessness and the anxiety of this story. A mother or a father would do anything to see their child have fun. You should’ve seen her face in the morning when I showed her the sequined dress. Her face lit up instantly. I kept imagining how is my daughter going to feel in daycare when she realizes she’s wearing a black leotard while all of the children are dressed in shiny, plastic outfits? Turns out my daughter was the shiniest of them all with the costume I put together.