Thursday, October 21, 2010

Halloween costume conundrum

Nico and I are at odds about his Halloween costume. My 8-going-on-18-year-old son wants to wear a Grim Reaper costume we saw at Target and I completely hate this idea. The costume features an exposed skeletal ribcage you can pump fake blood into.

A few weeks ago, he said he wanted to be Boba Fett, which I was totally OK with. In fact, I encouraged this idea because his little brother could then re-wear the Ewok costume from last year and I could be Chewbacca again and we could get a family Star Wars theme going (again).

Then, kids at school convinced Nico that dressing up as a character is for little kids and that Halloween is really about dressing up as something scary. I told him I think Halloween is about dressing up as anything you don't normally get to be, but he gave me such a look of disdain when I said that.

I pointed out other skeleton costumes he could consider, but Nico is fixated on having a thoracic skeleton and blood pump.

Last year, I had the boys' Halloween costumes settled in September, but this year we are stuck. Am I being unreasonable in thinking it's inappropriate for a third-grader to wear such a gory costume?

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Jake is going as the JOKER, similar to what he did at the science center this summer. Tell Nico that. Maybe he would be willing to go as two face, which is a little scary, but not too nasty. (I'll help with makeup if you want)

Bea is going as a flapper BTW.

Chris said...

if he wants to dress up as something scary, have him dress up as John Boehner.

katshepherd said...

I am definitely the wrong mother to ask, since last year I would not allow my preschooler to be Ariel, aka The little Mermaid, as every costume mimicked cleavage in some way. This year, saints be praised, Girlie has elected to be a "cute" (read: Pottery Barn for Kids) witch. I am also going as a witch and Daddy will be a werewolf. I say stick to your guns.

Anonymous said...

I told Jake about Nico's "friends". Jake was absolutely agog! "What!" he screamed. "Halloween is when you can dress up as whatever you want. Nico's friends are jerks!"

So THERE!

Lisa Chiu said...

Thanks for the advice, guys. We're letting Nico wear the costume but without the blood pump. Chris, John Boehner is frightening- no way, Jose.

Brenna said...

Seems like you've hit on a reasonable compromise. I thought that for the school Halloween party/parade, they didn't want the kids wearing gory costumes, anyhow.

David said...

where do you get the fabric from? I want to have Reaper Outfits and Ive been to several halloween stores and craft shops, and no one had any idea what I was looking for..

Lisa Chiu said...

David, I ended up buying the costume from Target. This year, Nico is going to be a ninja!