Sew a black jack o’ lantern face on an orange T-shirt and pair it with orange sweatpants. That’s my idea of how much effort should go into making a costume. And it matched perfectly what Carter wanted the last two Halloweens.
When Carter said he wanted to be a prince or a knight for Halloween this year, I told him they both sounded complicated to make. His solution: “Tell me what you can make, and then I’ll tell you what I’ll be.”
Auntie Stacey is famous for her creativity when it comes to making costumes (Carter wore her son’s outgrown Max from the Wild Things costume one year), so she came over to brainstorm with us. She gets credit for this year’s winner: What better than an airport for the boy who loves planes? And what could be easier to make? Jeff taped the runway markings precisely on a black T-shirt and sweatpants. (Thank you, Honey!) For added security, I tacked down the tape with thread and sewed on a plush plane. Done!
Carter’s a happy boy posing with an added biplane in the photo, but earlier in the evening there was doubt he would go trick or treating and tears when he realized he could not join his neighbor friends. He started coughing Thursday and running a fever last night, and both were worse today. Around 6 pm, the poor lil guy said: “I’m too sick to go trick or treating. I’ll go tomorrow instead.”
Fortunately, the ibuprofen kicked in and he perked up just enough to walk up and down our block with me. I know it’s not a good thing to take a child with a fever out, but on Halloween, it seems far worse to keep a child home. He washed and sanitized his hands before we went, and stood back, didn’t touch anything, and had me put the candy in his bag. But at least he got to say “trick or treat” and “thank you” for both the candy and the compliments on his clever, custom-made costume.
