The Incredibles | Psychobabble

Welcome to Day 1 of NaBloPoMo, or as I like to call it, HolyShitIForgotINeedToGoPostSomethingBRB. I really enjoy writing, but give me a deadline and it almost immediately becomes a yucky chore. So I do this month to challenge myself and I do it in 2020 because why the hell not? It’s a healthy outlet that I will add to my pile of leftover Halloween candy and leftover Labor Day booze (that’s a thing right?). Also, I figure that this healthy activity gets me out of things because now I just hole myself up in my room (ok, the bathroom) and yell SORRY, CAN’T! I’M BLOGGING!

Without any further ado.

I am basking in the Halloween afterglow, you guys.

We saved it, and I’m so glad.

Halloween is my very most favorite, but my expectations were appropriately low because hashtag dumpster fire. As you know, I usually make or put together as much of the costumes as possible. I don’t like to buy the premade costumes cuz that feels like cheating.

While my kids are still young and impressionable, I also try to wrangle my living companions into a family group costume and this year was no exception. Because I wanted to do something easy, I convinced my kids that we could all be The Incredibles. Sure, it’s been done, but it would be fun to be a superhero family who runs around putting out dumpster fires! Plus, I figured it couldn’t be too hard to find some red clothes and slap on some black masks.

Well….after some online shopping and price comparison, I realized that buying all the materials to make 4 Incredibles was going to cost about 2-3 times as much as the premade ones. Soooo, I found myself giving in because 2020 has sucked all my energy. I filled my Amazon shopping cart with the costumes we’d need and then I headed to the local Halloween popup store to see what they had. I called my husband from the store sounding frantic because I was second guessing what I was about to do; my husband probably thought I had been in a car accident or something.

Me: Brian! The store doesn’t have all we need! I’ll need to get some on Amazon!

B: Then do that.

Me: But what if they don’t fit!! And this one’s too expensive! Do the kids even want to be The Incredibles anyway?!

B: Just come home. Are you okay?

Me: I’m not okay! Nothing about this is okay! Do we need any more fake blood? Maybe I’ll just use my own.

B: What? Put down the knife and come home. I’m hanging up now.

The takeaway here is that 2020 has also zapped my ability to make any kind of decision.

It’s true that originally my kids wanted us to be characters from Frozen. We haven’t done that Disney movie yet for Halloween, and my kids are still obsessed. I had originally vetoed the idea because there was no way I’d be able to make all those costumes during Covid when I can’t spend hours at Goodwill like I usually would. But. Now I was considering…gulp…buying premade costumes. I was this close to pulling the trigger on the premade Incredibles when the ghost of Covid Halloween came to me and said, hey. hey you. put down the knife and look at me. first of all, there is such a thing as too much blood in a Halloween display. please. let’s keep this classy. second. you’re allowed to buy premade Halloween costumes during Covid. I give you permission. make your kids happy.

And that’s how I was finally able to buy an Olaf costume for my son, an Anna costume for myself, and spruced up an Elsa costume that had been given to us for my daughter. My husband was to be Kristoff, but those costumes were super expensive, and so my mom came to the rescue! She bought a quarter zip black jackety thing, took out the zipper and sewed on the fake fur and burgundy trim. We used the same fabric for his chic burgundy sash. Lastly, my mom fashioned some awesome curly-toed bootie out of felt and fake fur that strapped on over his normal shoes. He added a black beanie and bam! We were set.

As soon as these decisions were made, I felt so much better. Not only were we gonna be what my kids actually wanted to be in the first place, but I realized that I was gonna get to play a Disney princess for the first time in my life!! And not just any princess – one of my favorites!

What was better still was that we were able to plan and enjoy socially distant Halloween fun that made the holiday feel just as fun and festive as any other year. I helped plan and execute a mini parade where families watched from their parked cars, and on Halloween night we did a treasure hunt fully masked with some friends.

One thing that continually brings me hope during Covid is how humans refuse to give up. So many of us are making the most of this situation and we’re finding the most creative ways to still have fun and be as safe as possible.

A dumpster fire, you say? Let’s all sit around it and roast our fucking marshmallows. I hope everyone had a happy and safe Halloween!

Day 1

Y’all know that Halloween is my fave holiday, right. (Just search the keyword in my blog if you don’t believe me.)

It’s the best, really. It’s that one day when you get to dress up like someone else, even act like someone (or something) else, and you get to parade around and get free candy and you don’t have to buy gifts for people or sit on some fat guy’s lap.

Earlier this year, when I was starting to plan for costumes, I figured my 5 year old might have more of an opinion and that our days of me being able to pick out family costumes were over. I know the year will eventually come, but THIS, my friends, WAS NOT THAT YEAR.

Both my kids were super agreeable to a family-themed costume again this year, and so I gave the kids a choice between The Incredibles and Peter Pan. We had other ideas in the running, but these two were 1) movies the kids had seen, and 2) costumes that were easy enough for me to put together, because mama don’t do pre-packaged costumes if I can help it. The kids chose Peter Pan, and we were all very excited!

One of my favorite tales of all time.

Daddy was Captain Hook, and he had a lot of fun putting his costume together. Most of the pieces were from Amazon, a few from Goodwill, the sword from the Halloween store, and some frills dug out of the costume box from previous costumes (the feather for his hat, the sash around his waist, the lace at his wrists). One kid even came up to him and asked if he was Captain Hook. “Yar, you be right!” he replied. The kid then asked, wide-eyed: “…the real one?!” Priceless.

I was Wendy Moira Angela Darling, and my costume was the most boring of the group, but I still had fun. My dress was from Goodwill, and I used ribbon for the trim around my waist and the bow in my hair.

My oldest was Peter, and I had fun making his costume. Like I’ve done in previous years, I ordered the exact shades of green clothing from Primary. His shirt is actually a dress that I cut up. My mom made his felt hat and felt booties that covered his normal shoes, also his fabric belt. His dagger was from the Halloween store, “because I want to sword fight with Daddy!”

My baby girl was Tinker Bell, “I can FWHY!” We already owned her Tink dress for dress-up, so that was a no-brainer. I found her wings at Goodwill (which matched PERFECTLY) for two bucks (!). I got her ballet flats at Target and my mom made the fuzzy white poof balls that I just pinned to the shoes. The finishing touch was figuring out how to form her thin hair into the smallest cutesy bun, and I let her wear some pretty pink blush on her cheeks. I really wanted to add some glitter “fairy dust” to her hair and/or face, but restrained myself. My present self thanks my Halloween self. It would have been super cute though.

…second star to the right and straight on til morning!!!

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