Let me first say-I'm well aware we have a strong influence over our son. That's not to sound defensive--I haven't been accused of not having an influence over him. It's just that this idea he came up with all his own. All his own. We had been brainstorming costume ideas off and on for a couple of weeks. he would pick something only to reject it over the next few days. I had given him a deadline of October 1st to make his decision. Of course Brad was working particularly hard at influencing him: Luke Skywalker or Bo Duke. And I'm sure our brainstorming sessions weren't too pedestrian. None-the-less, he suddenly exclaimed, "I want to be a vampire squid!" I think it was a perfect combination of something fun, different, and a little scary (vampire squids can be quite scary you know-I'm sure I don't want to encounter one while I'm out alone in the dark abyss). Impressively, once he made this decision he did not reconsider it at all. The only problem then is that the filter in my brain that tells me I can't do something doesn't work very well. I may have a lack of self-confidence in some areas but in building or creating something I always seem to think I can do anything. And it usually is passable but rarely great--you should see the bird house I
tried to build this spring...
Drum roll please!
I might as well throw in the pumpkin too-it has its tongue sticking out because it is dying because it was stabbed by a sword. I tell you I do not make this stuff up--and while it makes me cringe a little, a lot I can revel in the fact that he has very little sword or killing influences but he has an excellent imagination!
I will also save you the trouble of google-ing vampire squid so I can direct you straight to our inspiration. For Christmas we received a wonderful coffee table book,
The Deep: Extraordinary Creatures from the Abyss. I also found an animal encyclopedia both of which our own little squid consumes like candy and both of which contained vampire squids. So I received clear instructions on how to make the costume-complete with spikes underneath. And you will see our squid likes to flip upside down as much as the real one. (But please note, for accuracies sake, a vampire squid is not truly a squid; it's in a genus all it's own, likely a link between octopuses and squids). Ok-now you're as educated on these as we are, enjoy!
Our trick-or-treating adventure was accompanied by a Ninja-is that capitalized? A sea princess, and a darling black cat. All had a most excellent time and filled giant pumpkins with candy and other assorted prizes!
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2 comments:
Awesome! When I was a kid I loved to challenge my mom to make difficult costumes. One year I insisted on being a lightbulb!
Thanks Ryan. I was just about to not let myself get sucked into this need to create his own unique Halloween costume every year-but 1. he LOVED it, 2. I enjoyed doing something that challenged him to use his imagination and be unique, and 3. and now I'm further inspired by your childhood perspective. Plus... I read him your comment and now he's coming up with light bulb ideas for me. "Next year you could make me a pumpkin with lightbulbs all over it." "Next year you can make me a diving Lego with a light bulb." (BTW a diving Lego is a string of Legos diving off his head). How does he come up with this stuff? Hope all is well with you!
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