Here's the story. I take Family Fun magazine which I really do like, except it has the whole "look how perfect my family is" vibe which can be toxic. There are lots of cute crafts, recipes and activites to do with kids. You can do one of these things, take a picture, send it in and they post them. I've often thought it would be great to have a photo gallery of magazine-inspired misses. Like the photo above.
The magazine showed family Halloween costumes. Precious! I fell in love with a Nascar theme. The son wore a racing suit (like #2 is going to wear) and mom and dad wore matching white coveralls decorated as his pit crew. I was smitten.
I searched online for coveralls for me which isn't all that easy because I'm short and petite. I finally found some on Amazon and asked Aaron to order them and matching ones for him the next time he ordered something.
About a week later, I was so excited when my suit arrived. And then I tried it on. When #3 (age 3) saw it on me he wasn't impressed. After I took it off, he actually took it to the trash to throw it away. I was tempted to let him. This is NOT what the mom looked like in the magazine photo. Of course, I spent all of $5 on this lovely tyvek suit and I'm sure she spent more on a higher quality fabric. (Side note--I will wear the suit some day in the future. We have a farm and I'm certain there will be a day when having a tyvek suit will be a blessing).
And then I had a moment of clarity: why do I need to dress up? I'm 34. No one is giving me candy and we're not going to any Halloween parties. We'll go to our church's Fall Festival. Fun, but I'm going to be too busy chasing my own kids to show off my own duds.
I'm glad the mom in the magazine gets her Nascar pit crew moment. I'm jealous of the Christmas card moment it could have been. But, I've had enough expectations blatantly busted by the reality of having 3 little boys to really think we ever would have even had a good picture. One of the boys would have refused to wear the matching costume. Someone could have gotten sick. Someone else could have just been a toot that night.
I tell my boys this lovely phrase often: sometime you're the windshield and sometimes you're the bug. This is just life. I was the bug in my plans for Halloween. The silver lining I'm focusing on is that the moment happened in the privacy of my home, weeks before Halloween, so at least I can enjoy the special night with my family--at peace with me not wearing a costume.
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