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Halloween Costume Ideas
I must admit that Halloween has never been one of my favorite holidays. I just don’t like the pressure to come up with a great Halloween costume! I don’t know how to sew, and I’m creatively challenged when it comes to Halloween costume. I thought I did pretty well for my twins this year. I bought their dinosaur costumes at 75% off after Halloween last year! Unfortunately, because the Halloween costume are yellow and purple, my husband thinks our little boys look too “girlish.” Since when, I told him, do little girls ask to be dinosaurs? These must be little boy Halloween costume! Anyway, at least I got a good deal, and the twins do look adorable. When you’ve got twins or a lot of children, you need to bargain shop! (So hit the Halloween costume sales on November 1st!) If you’re still stumped for a last-minute Halloween costume, here are a couple of ideas:
My niece Paige is trick-or-treating as a “frumpy housewife”! She’s going to put her hair up in curlers, don an old robe and slippers, and smear cold cream all over her face. Guys can go as a hobo, with an old baggy suit, a drawn-on beard, and a hat.
You may not realize that you probably have a Halloween costume in your house already! If your children are on sports teams, their uniforms make great costumes. Have girls wear their ballet Halloween costume or cheerleader uniforms. If they’ve been in a play, dig out the Halloween costume to wear again.
Wear last year’s Halloween costume (if it still fits). Nobody will remember it’s the same as last year’s, and even if they do, who cares? Why spend the extra money for something you’re only going to wear for a few hours? Better yet, swap last year’s Halloween costume with a friend or neighbor. Then you’ll each have something “new” to wear.
A big box can be made into lots of different Halloween costume. When we were young, my mother transformed my sister into a table by gluing cheap plastic dishes to the top of a box, with my sister’s head poking out of the middle! Then they put flowers in her hair so she looked like the centerpiece! You can also make a robot, a box of crayons, a train…get out the paints and use your imagination!
Most of all, just have fun, and relax the rules a little bit when it comes to letting the kids chow down on a little bit of candy (after you’ve inspected it, of course)! Happy Halloween!
My Fear of Driving
My son is almost seventeen, and he still doesn’t have his driver’s license. He’s had his learner’s permit for over a year. He’s passed his driver’s ed course, but still I haven’t taken him to get the license. Part of the reason is insurance costs. I know that having a 16-year-old driver on our policy will send our rates sky-high. But that’s not the full reason why he still doesn’t have his license. It’s FEAR. Not his…mine. Is a 16-year-old really mature enough to handle the complex situations that arise when driving? Heck, many 50-year-olds I see on the road don’t appear to have the common sense to navigate traffic. I’ve also heard that traffic accidents are the number-one cause of death among teens. I believe it. I have a whole head full of news stories where teens have died due to reckless driving and stupidity. And so I want to put off the inevitable as long as I can. Yes, it’s a hassle to still be driving him everywhere he wants to go, especially since I have three younger children to run around. But for me, it’s worth the peace of mind. I’ll probably let him get his driver’s license for his 17th birthday, but there will be restrictions. No driving on the freeway at first. No more than one passenger in the car. No fiddling with the radio. Call me paranoid, but I prefer to think of myself as a mother who loves her son dearly.
What is the meaning of Halloween costume?
The wearing of costumes at Halloween may come from the belief that supernatural beings, or the souls of the dead, roamed the earth at this time. The practice may have originated in a Celtic festival, held on 31 October–1 November, to mark the beginning of winter.
What are costumes?
A set of clothes worn in order to look like someone or something else, especially for a party or as part of an entertainment: Our host was wearing a clown costume. The children were dressed in Halloween costumes.
Your Pregnancy Week by Week
Whenever I was pregnant (three times with four children), I read everything I could put my hands on about being pregnant. I wanted to know how the baby was developing, what new pregnancy symptoms I could expect, whether things in my environment could hurt my baby, and so much more. I would read and re-read my books, making sure that I didn’t miss a thing. Every book was a little bit different and presented new information.
I recently stumbled across a pregnancy book that I really wish I’d had during my pregnancies. With my hunger for information, its week-by-week format would have been a real plus for me! Your Pregnancy Week by Week, by Glade B. Curtis, M.D., M.P.H. and Judith Schuler, M.S., contains all the latest information about fetal growth, diet and exercise, prenatal screening, labor, delivery, and so much more. The authors have recently released the 6th Edition, so it is extremely current and comprehensive. It even tells you how to prepare yourself before you get pregnant and what to expect with your body after your pregnancy. I could fill pages with the topics that are covered in this book, so let’s just say that I couldn’t think of a topic that wasn’t included! And lest you fathers feel left out, it even has “Dad Tips” sprinkled throughout the book.
Your Pregnancy Week by Week is part of a whole series of books by Curtis and Schuler. Others include: Your Pregnancy for the Father-to-Be, Your Pregnancy Journal Week by Week, and several Quick Guides on nutrition and weight management, fitness and exercise, tests and procedures, women of color, and multiples. (I could have used that last one with my last pregnancy when I was carrying twins!) And after your baby is born, you’ll want to pick up a copy of Your Baby’s First Year Week by Week.
You can learn more about the authors and their books at www.yourpregnancybook.com. You’ll also find an ovulation predictor and a due date calculator, as well as pregnancy information, on the site. And then pick up a copy of Your Pregnancy Week by Week!