Dressing Up for Trick or Treat!

The children of Southdale look forward to Trick or Treat Day!

Abby was no exception, of course! Soon after trick or treat ended last year, she started planning what she wanted to be the following year - and spent the next 12 months jumping from one idea to another - princess, vampiress, doctor, she-devil, fairy, princess again, scientist, zombie, ballerina, witch, princess ... got the idea?

Most of the parents were as excited as their children and actually took the time to buy them fabulous (not to mention, expensive!) costumes. Almost all preschool parents dove head-first with enthusiasm, particularly the young or the first-time moms and dads.

But there were also those (including me) whose excitement was tempered with dread over the inevitable EXPENSES! But still excited, kind of!

It seems that the older their children got, or the more children they have, the less enthusiastic some parents became. Whatever . . .

Since Abby could not decide what she wanted to be ... and since I was unwilling to spend money on costume that would be discarded soon after anyway ... I just borrowed Carla's old costume from Chedette - a Greek Goddess' gown - and as you can see from Abby's pose, she's having a blast dressing up ... I told her she was Hera, the queen of the gods of Mt. Olympus! Another parent teased me that she was Aphrodite - Goddess of Love - I said no no no! My baby's still too young ... don't you give her those ideas!

Abby loved the idea of being the queen. She told everyone that she was a GODDESS QUEEN! and that as such, she was the most powerful of all, even more powerful than the vampires and witches!

At least I got through the day with only the euphorbia flowers on her head as biggest casualties. Thanks to Chedette, my wallet got spared!





That's Abby with Nicole (in black attire) and Dom (as pirate).

Dom is Abby's ex-best friend. They recently had an amicable agreement not to be best friends anymore! They've been classmates since they were three years old and have been together for almost four years now. Both girls have strong personalities and very assertive with their ideas. No wonder they've been arguing since Day 1 - although they still managed to call each other best friends, until now. I hope they'll fix their differences eventually. As I recall, their teacher used to call them best friends-worst enemies! At least, they are still calling each other on the phone!

The Wizardess is Carla. She won the Best Costume Award for Lower School children.

The entire Grade One class: Matt-Matt as Tomcat, Nicole, Dom, Abby, Count "Raffy" Dracula, and Gabby the Ninja!

This time with Jeina as the Corpse Bride. This girl knows how to project! She got the Best Costume award for Middle School.

I wonder who gets the most fun whenever parents would dress up their children?

The children themselves?

How about the parents who went around competing for the best positions while toting cameras and videocams - with hearts gushing pure pride and joy?

We were all winners, no doubt about that. But the real winners were the entrepreneurs who made money from events such as this one.

By the way, my wallet wasn't really totally spared. I still had to spend for the treats that we gave around.

But who cares? We all had fun. And that's what really matters.