Happy (belated) Halloween

One of the things I have really enjoyed about Halloween the past few years is helping the kids pick out their costumes. It's always so interesting to me...to see what each of them chooses to dress up as. Though I don't know exactly how much "choice" he had in the matter, Joseph went trick-or-treating this year as an alien/monster. He played the part quite well with his 'frankensteinish' walk and those pudgy little arms outstretched in front of him, steadying himself with every step. Brody was a flying dragon...much like our friend Elliot from Disney's Pete's Dragon. I really think he believed he could actually fly. Cassidy was a monkey (because she is of course, our silly little monkey you know) equipped with a yellow banana and curly q tail. And our little paleontologist, Ella, decided this year she wanted to be a big green dinosaur.

The festivities kicked off with a big family Halloween party at Ella's school with games, treats, face painting...and a whole lot of fun. We saw quite the range of costumes...at least from the boys. The girls though all seemed to be dressed up as princesses...ALL OF THEM. Don't get me wrong...we have done the princess thing many a times ourselves. But the one thing I think I have always loved about the whole Halloween costume selection process for my kids is that their choices in costumes have mimicked something that reflects their interests at that time. Whatever they have chosen to dress up as, has always expressed who they are...not who they aren't.

I wasn't the only one who noticed all the princesses at Ella's school that night. So did she. And I immediately saw her insecurities in choosing to be who she was. The following day, at her classroom party, Ella went to school as a princess. My heart broke for her because I knew she was conforming to what she thought her peers viewed to be acceptable for a pretty young girl. In a way I think she felt comfort in dressing up the way she thought other people expected her to, but at the end of the day I knew she had given up a part of who she was. Patrick and I talked to her a lot about how God had made her uniquely...different from all the rest. We reminded her that she chose to be a dinosaur because that is what is important to her...and not because she thought it was important to others. Her identity is not based on other's, but on the love that God created her with.

When it was time to go out on Halloween night, I was curious to see which costume Ella would decide to wear. When I saw her start to slip on those green scaly legs, my heart warmed inside of me. I know there will be times again in the future where she will be challenged and her identity may be shaken. I just pray she continues to remember that God made her beautifully HER in his own unique design.