Halloween is quickly approaching and I haven’t thought about my kids’ costumes. Well, that’s a lie, I asked them both what they want to ‘be’ this year.
Six year old: “Blue Power Ranger”
Three year old: “Belle”
Ha. Those are their costumes from last year. Awesome. I really don’t like discouraging them, so maybe we’ll just reuse the costumes. This will give me more time to focus on my own. Yes, that’s right. I dress up at Halloween. So does my husband. In fact, we have an annual adult only costume party at our house. Just to be clear: this means no one under 25. We also insist on a costume. If you show up at my door without a costume on – you can’t come in.
The first year we threw this party I thought that in my group of friends we would have at least one party pooper who didn’t wear a costume. WRONG. Everyone showed up with a costume on and we didn’t have one duplicate. That first year we welcomed Leatherface, Gumby, the Wicked Witch of the East, Snow White, a Girl Guide, Frida Kahlo, Ugly Betty, and Richie Tenenbaum. We had a vampire, a mad surgeon, a nun, a sexy cop, and so many more. We were blown away. Everyone went all out. Who knew that adults were dying for a reason to dress up? Who knew that my friends would get really excited and super creative with their Halloween costumes? That they would keep their costumes secret and arrive on time to a Halloween party? Not me. And boy was I pleasantly surprised. It’s funny how my kids are so blasé about it but my friends have been thinking about their costumes since the middle of the summer.
My husband is a little challenged when it comes to hair follicles so every year his costume needs to involve excessive amounts of hair. There is a need! The first couple of hours of the party involve pointing and “did you see so and so’s costume?” – it’s hilarious! Last year we introduced a DJ – who was dressed as a 1970s pimp. We moved all of our furniture and taped cardboard down on the floor to protect it and voila – dance floor. We always invite our neighbours. Because let’s face it, the more the merrier and if you invite your neighbours, they can’t complain about the noise.
Did I mention that we go all out in decorating our house? I hang creepy framed pictures on my walls, I hang mummified goblins from the ceiling and there is a witch who cackles every time somebody walks by her. At every party, we set up a secret voting area - a la Survivor - where everyone anonymously votes for best costume and at around midnight we pick a winner. The winner gets an award (thank you dollar store) and a gift certificate to a popular restaurant or coffee shop. Fun! My husband loves it – and I think it’s because he’s a Brit and I don’t think that Halloween is a big thing over there so he really goes overboard. Our front and back yards turn into old graveyards – dry ice and all.
Just because you’re a grown up - and a parent - doesn’t mean that you have to stop having fun. Halloween is a big part of my childhood. I’m glad that I can still celebrate as an adult and I’m happy to provide my friends and family with a place to do it. I do however, have an ulterior motive - this gets me out of hosting Christmas.
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