To Each Her Own

This year at Halloween my younger daughter reminded me, once again, that every child is highly demanding different.

Last week when it was time to try on her costume for a Halloween party, she put it on and tears welled up in her eyes. Who knew that Tinkerbell could be so offensive? She had asked to be Tinkerbell and I picked up what I thought was a very cute and girly Tinkerbell costume at the time. But apparently I was the only one of that opinion.

Well it wasn't really just me. It was my oldest daughter too. Which was part of the problem. I was thinking about things from her point of view and not my younger daughter's, which is the way I've been programmed for (almost) 7 years.

I picked out something that, without thinking about it, would have been perfect for my oldest daughter when she was the same age as her sister. But my younger daughter is a bird of a different tutu. She's not really into all the frill and fluff that a lot of little girls like when they are three or four.

And herein was the problem with the costume. "Too fluffy," she said.

So I altered it and took out some toule. And as I was hacking away at this sweet costume that I paid good money for, I was reminded that this was the third year in a row that I was committing such an act. My mind flashed back to a ladybug fairy outfit that was never even tried on when she was one and a half (and instead she opted for the bunny costume that her older sister wore when she was the same age) and a black cat costume that just wasn't comfortable last year (and rightly so since it was a bit too small despite the right age being listed on the label), so I altered it to be her own black clothes with all the trimmings. I really need to remember this next year.

After the alteration, Tinkerbell was cast aside and laid around on the floor for a few days, awaiting it's rightful wearer. But try as I might, I couldn't get my daughter to even try it on again until the day of Halloween. And then, as I had feared, it was still "too fluffy".

Being that we were due to her school's Halloween party and parade in a half hour, we just went through the ample supply of dress up clothes and picked something else. She chose a ballerina outfit, but true to herself, she picked the one with no fluff at all, just a pretty skirt attached to the leotard. She steered clear of the fluffy tutu that I had made for her sister's costume a few years back, even after giving it a quick try-on.

And off we went to the party and parade. Once again, she stayed true to her personality and, on the same stage where her big sister once sang out proud, she was shy and quiet, rarely looking up for the camera. But this was no surprise to me; she's always been my lovebug that likes to stay close by.

So we skipped out of everything a little early and came home to our safety zone. Upon arriving home, she immediately changed out of her costume and into her puddle-stomping clothes. With a huge smile plastered on her face and giggles that could be heard down the street, she played in the puddles, stomped in the mud and dug in the dirt until it was time to come in for lunch.

That night she was happy to put back on her ballerina outfit and keep things simple. No pomp and circumstance for this girl.

And after a bit of trick-or-treating, she was relieved to be back home where she could give away the candy (thankfully a little faster than she was eating it) and let the party come to her.

To each her own, my love.