We had a ‘Rona scare at my house and had to self isolate for a week. (Hubs was negative! YAY!) Not being at school, my daughter wasn’t in the thick of school announcements, so when she approached me on Sunday night and said, “umm… next week is Spirit Week”, my heart sank. Me: “Would it hurt your feelings if we skipped it this year?” Her: (long pause)”… well maybe a little. But I understand.”
I am good at many things. I can order from Amazon at the platinum level! I don’t even mind paying the extra for NEXT DAY, but this was Sunday night! My feelings at that moment: guilt, disappointment, failure, exhaustion, and the week hadn’t even started yet.
I went to Facebook (because obvs that’s where ALL THE NEWS FOR SCHOOL IS) and searched until I found the post with the daily themes for Spirit Week.
Monday is 80’s day. Easiest day ever. If you don’t have this stuff in your kid’s closet, are you even really a mom? Bright leggings, a tutu or tulle skirt, layered t-shirts, side ponytail, lacy socks, flats, or high tops. DONE! I ripped that out of her closet and mine and, by sheer coincidence, found a sequined jacket I forgot we had. WHOOT!
Tuesday is villains. Seriously school people? Seriously? Ugh, I googled, no joke, female villains with dark hair. I don’t have time to color hers or find a wig. I gave her a list: Miranda from The Devil Wears Prada, Medusa, or the babysitter from The Fairly Odd Parents. Miranda is easy because she would need to dress up, and I have a wig. For Medusa, we have a black cloak, black shirt, black leggings, and greenery for the Thanksgiving table. I figured it wouldn’t be too hard to find snakes and hot glue those bad boys to some bobby pins and throw them in her hair. The babysitter from the Fairly Odd Parents wears black leggings and a green shirt. She chooses Medusa. (I’ll come back to this shortly!)
Wednesday is Space. No time to create a cute space alien costume, and I couldn’t deal with Pinterest Perfection, so I checked the local Party City inventory and found a Leia costume, ordered for curbside pick up on Tuesday. DONE!
Thursday is TV/Movie characters. She was Hermione 3 years ago, and that cloak STILL FITS! Done. I will only need to messy curl her hair, and we are GOLDEN!
The only costume I need to work on is Medusa hair. I work full time, so I was on a tight schedule to shop for snakes. I dropped her off at swim practice at 7:15 am, headed to Dollar Tree. No snakes there, so I went to Target. Found one snake. Got hairpins and green hair color and went to work. Lunchtime found me at Walmart, where I found three packs of small snakes in the party section and ten giant snakes in the toy section. I went to work and, in between classes, hot glued snakes. After work, I curled her hair, and we practiced where to put the snakes. She looked terrific on Tuesday!
I posted a picture of my gorgeous Medusa in a Mom group, and someone said, “You know, it’s ok if you skip a day or two. My kids don’t mind it.”
Me:
Seventeen years ago, I lost my baby brother when he was 21. Two years before that, we got the diagnosis that he didn’t have long to live. I learned during that time that life is short. Say the things. Do the things. Live the life you want. Make all the memories because life is a gift.
I chose, after I lost my brother, to never go to bed with regrets. Based on these criteria, I make all my decisions: Will I regret it if I don’t do this?
Yes- making and assembling costumes with very little notice was a pain. Yes, it took some effort. Yes, I could have made the executive parent’s decision and nixed the whole idea, and she would have been ok with that. Disappointed, sure, but she would have understood.
But, I would regret not spending that time with her and teaching her how to create what we had. I would have regretted missing the chatting with her while I worked on her hair. I would not have seen her face light up with excitement as she walked out the door to school, not in her school uniform, but a costume she knew made her look good and built her confidence. 7th grade is rough, y’all!
Make the damn costume and enjoy your kids. No Regrets! But next year? I will plan better!
Happy Halloween!
Tell me about your spirit day adventures in the comments below.
