Fire! Fire!!

  

Weird things that happen DURING a building fire that you don't know about until it happens to *your* building.

1. Lots of firefighters show up to your house and know exactly what to do.
2. You stand outside of your house and suddenly feel like, "Surprise!!" it might not be your house after all.
3. Awesome neighbors come out of the woodwork. They offer tea (all of them) and introduce themselves and say they were worried about your children (which is very kind).

The 10 Minute Halloween Costume

Since mid September, James has been telling me (and anyone else who asks) that he is going to be a ghost for Halloween. "A ghost." He plainly reports. "A happy one."

I was psyched when he made this pronouncement given the ease and affordability of costuming a ghost; the fact that we had a white crib sheet ready for donation made me even happier. Yes, and yes. Last year, I made the mistake of pouring hours into a costume that James was too afraid of to wear and I was not going to make that same mistake.

So, two weeks ago, I spent all of ten minutes trimming the costume out, measuring perfect eye holes. Slam bam, "Here you go, kid. You're a ghost." He wore it for a short afternoon, fussing with it the whole time but he continued to tell people who asked What He Was Going to Be for Halloween that he was going as a ghost. That is, until 4pm this afternoon, Halloween.

James wakes up from his nap exactly 30 minutes before we are due to head out the door. Knowing that he is as fickle as his mother, I've got 5 alternate costumes at the ready in case he 86es the sheet. Which he does, immediately.

"No. I don't want to be a ghost."

I have a moment of maternal pride, "I knew it!" I said to myself.

"I want to be a butterfly." Shit.

Glancing at the other 5 costumes laid out on the couch, I start to feel dejected. I want to lie down with the dinosaur, monkey, pirate, tiger and jester and call it a day. Instead, because it is the first Halloween in which James is a participant (as opposed to a mannequin), I call my friend, Kai, who always has the right answer. "How do I make butterfly wings in 5 minutes?" And we were off. I happened to have butterfly shaped masks in the art drawer.




Unfortunately, James was unwillingly to wear Kai's last minute stunners (scarves tied, one to each wrist, and attached to the back of the butterfly's shirt). But he got WAY into mask decoration.





To the mask, we added, striped baby legs, ethereal skirt, and lavender butterfly boots. James insisted he not fly alone...



At T minus 5 minutes, I emailed by neighborhood parent group for spare wings and predictably, awesome group that they are, I received multiple offers before I'd left the house. Turns out, James wanted to be a butterfly sans wings. But they didn't go to waste.