Every little girl dreams of being a princess. And you know what? Every big girl – especially a tired mama who lives in jeans and comfortable shoes and loves dry shampoo and looks forward to her Sunday naps more than almost anything else – wants to be a princess every once in awhile.
Well friends, this was our year!
Miss Wrenn is obsessed with Cinderella. Like, o-b-s-e-s-s-e-d. And, the best part of all is that she is CONVINCED that her daddy is Prince Charming, which made picking this year’s Halloween costumes a breeze. I just HAD to find her a Cinderella dress, and I just HAD to convince Mr. Right to be Prince Charming.
And for me – well, I could have been an evil stepmother or evil stepsister… or maybe I could have been a fairy godmother (I didn’t think of it until later) – but no, I decided I would be a princess too.
I snagged Wrenn a beautiful (and surprisingly well-made) Cinderella dress on Amazon for $27. Once she got over the itchiness (sorry girlfriend – ALL princess dresses are itchy – it’s good training for being a grown-up where EVERYTHING is slightly uncomfortable), she was in love.
However, when it came time to wear it for her “Harvest Party” (ahem) at Mother’s Day Out, she decided she needed to add a very important accessory. As Wrenn calls it, she was a “Superhero Princess.”
I love that my daughter wants to be a superhero princess. Because that’s basically what being a mom is, isn’t it? A superhero princess?
For the past four years, we have hosted a big Halloween Party at our house. We’re not exactly Halloween people, but one year we got a wild hair and decided to host a chili cookoff and invite all of our friends and neighbors, and well, it kind of stuck. This year we had about 50 people, including lots we had never met. I loved it.
Wrenn and I have a thing for sidewalk chalk, so we decided to decorate the driveway the day of the party. It was an excuse to get outside and enjoy the amazing fall weather. (Imagine me saying, “No Wrenn! This is mommy’s picture – you go draw your OWN picture!” about 1,000 times.)
This year, we had an epiphany. Actually, Mr. Right had an epiphany. He rented our costumes from a local costume shop for about $35 each. He simply walked in, picked out what he wanted, and <<POOF>> we were Prince Charming and Cinderella. With NO work, NO planning, NO stress.
My goodness, I sure love that man.
I must admit, for one evening, I really did feel like Cinderella. That is, if Cinderella was 15 years older, wore sensible shoes and chased a 2-year-old around, trying to keep her from overdosing on sugar or running into the street.
Wrenn LOVED our costumes. To her, we WERE princesses. And a neighborhood kid even asked to take her picture with me. I may or may not have twirled at least once in our full-length mirror. I haven’t had this much fun dressing up since our wedding. Petticoats = fancy.
Wrenn had THE BEST TIME handing out candy to all of the neighborhood kids. And convincing all 50 guests to give her JUST ONE piece of candy (bless), and stealing cookies from the dessert table. Girlfriend stayed up until 9:30 from the sugar high, which is 4 a.m. in toddler years (normal bedtime is 7:15).
And at midnight, I turned back into a pumpkin. Well, actually, I changed into sweats for party cleanup and I was in bed by 10:30 because – HELLO – it was a church night AND daylight savings, which meant my child was up at an ungodly hour ready to face the world. Dang morning people!
I’m already dreaming about what costumes we can rent next year. Because I swear, I will NEVER hand-make a costume again. I wonder if I can talk Wrenn into another princess theme?