Heroing Up for Halloween

After weeks of anticipation, the big event finally took place yesterday!  Friends from our son's Pre-K class - many of whom have been together since they were less than a year old at the same daycare - had their first reunion since graduation this past June.  All geared up for Halloween, the new Kindergartners - all members of the Class of 2025 - gathered together, celebrated their friendship and had a preview of the Trick-or-Treating fun to come.  It was a great day!

Of course, the best part of any Halloween party is the dressing up!  And, of course, Lil' Man had a plan for all three of us.  I have to admit that usually his plans are pretty creative and I am always on board for trying different things he suggests.  I mean...you only live once, and he's 5.  How bad could it be?  So when our son said he knew what we were going to be for Halloween, I was all ears.

"Avengers!"  He shouted this inspired idea with such excitement and certainty that I instantly bought in.  My husband was thrilled to oblige as the world of superheroes has been a bond between my two favorite guys since our son could talk...or actually just point to pictures of Captain America or Iron Man.

"Great!  Who are we going to be?"  I am not as well-versed in all things Marvel as my kid or my husband.

"Well, I'm going to be Hulk!  Daddy can be lots of guys."  From here, he started naming hero after hero - many of whom I had never even heard of before.  My husband smiled and nodded enthusiastically to each suggestion.  I could just tell this was going to be great!

"Awesome!  And who can I be?"

"Well...ummm...you've got Black Widow.  She is the only girl Avenger."  I looked at my husband and he was in agreement.

"Oh.  OK.  That makes my choice easy, I guess.  Let's do it!"  Lil' Man was absolutely thrilled and he and his daddy began pouring over costume websites.  We had a plan.  And, it was a good plan.  It was a good plan until...I saw what I would have to wear.

It's not that I'm opposed to black leather.  I rather like my boots, gloves and a purse or two that I own.  But, I also have locked in my memory an interview that was done many years ago with Halle Berry as she was speaking about the preparation for her role as Catwoman.  She was insecure about her appearance in the famous black catsuit.

Huh.  Really.  Newsflash...I'm no Halle Berry.  And with weapons strapped to waist and wrists...one look and my husband knew what I was thinking.  It was instantly clear to both of us that Black Widow was not going to make an appearance at this Halloween party...something for more of a Fifty Shades of Grey theme, maybe, but not for the 5 year old crowd.

So, I started looking at other costumes for female superheroes.  I looked...I laughed...I decided to just order the Hulk at that point and I would figure something out later.  I hadn't fit in costumes that tiny since I was prepubescent, for heaven's sake!  I wonder why male superheroes are all covered up from head-to-toe when saving the world, but the few female superheroes that have been created seem to need to be half-naked to use their superpowers.  I'm pretty sure this has something to do with Stan Lee being a guy.  I could be wrong, but I don't think so.

Anyway, the Hulk arrived, and after Lil' Man got over the fear of the mask (He's always disliked full masks on other people and actually spent the first few times wearing his costume trying to avoid his own reflection.  Not even kidding.  Hilarious!), he was all about the three of us embracing the Hulk theme.

Again...easy for my hubby!  He could be Dr. Bruce Banner in the middle of his transformation into the raging green monster.  And so he was...and it was fabulous!

 "Great!  What can I be?" I asked, this time with a little less enthusiasm.  Oh...silly Mama.  Of course Lil' Man had a plan!

"You can be what makes Bruce Banner angry."  Seriously?  That's it?  Yup.  Pretty much.

In all honesty, I did entertain wearing jeans and a shirt and sporting a sandwich board style sign that simply read, "I make Bruce Banner angry."   It was so easy, but I kinda felt like that was giving up.  Why couldn't I could be a superhero?  I am a mother.  I am a teacher.  I have faced challenges bigger than this. I could be a hero...wait a second.  I'm a mother!  Don't I do super things all of the time for my family...or at least try, anyway?

And this, my friends, is how a new superhero was born.  Out of the desperate flames of despair, much like a phoenix (albeit, with REALLY pink feathers) arose the amazingly powerful and, might I add incredibly heroic, Supermama!

  
Carrying all of the necessities for a mama to be super, this hero joined the ranks of the mighty Avengers...at least for a few hours.  Thankfully, my guys were pretty happy with my choice.  Lil' Man was happy because I fit into his original thematic plan...sort of.  My husband was happy because my other thought was that we could be Thing 1 and Thing 2 from Dr. Suess and he REALLY didn't want to wear the blue wig I bought him.

And so, this family heroed-up, piled their superselves into the car and set off on the Halloween celebration adventure of the year!  Truly, the best part of the day was that these kiddos (some of whom haven't seen each other since their Pre-K graduation) all played and danced and ran (There was LOTS of running!) together as though they had never been apart.  A great deal of thanks goes out to the hosts of this "spooktacular" event - it was fantastic!