He wanted to be a Stormtrooper inside an AT-AT Walker from Star Wars. With flaps for his arms and a helmet on his head. With "shooters" attached and big robot legs to tromp around in. Being the loving parents that we are, Linda and I went about making his costume. To be on the safe side, I managed to convince him to be a two legged walker instead of a four legged one, as I was unsure if I could actually make the bigger one. For those of you who are Star Wars geeks (like me) I was aiming for the smaller AT-ST walker from Return of the Jedi. The ones that the Ewoks managed to take down with big ropes and poles and stuff.
Linda was in charge of procurement and I was in charge of construction. A trip to the craft store and Walmart got most of what we needed. Little bowls, duct tape, spray paint and sheets of foam. We took an empty diaper box, cut out the shape and made some holes for his arms. I measured and cut, measured again and cut as needed. I even used a yard stick for straight lines. Lots of duct tape around the edges to hold it together and some hot glue to attach the guns and viewport flaps. Ian was excited!
He was really excited! So was I! We had never actually made a costume before.
I spray painted the whole thing gray with enough coats to make me dizzy. A metallic spray paint was added for the special robot walker finish. Linda added in some straps inside so it would stay up. We did make legs also but they didn't fit right so we didn't use them. Here Ian is in his Stormtrooper costume driving the AT-ST Walker. "Daddy it's TOTALLY AWESOME!" I felt so proud that I had brought this much joy to my son. Ian was super excited!
Until he actually had to wear it to his Karate Halloween party on Thursday!
As soon as we got out of the car Ian refused to wear the walker costume and announced that he would just go as the stormtrooper. Now of course we didn't expect him to wear it for a long time at all. It was a pretty tight fit and he couldn't run around or eat in it. We just wanted to him to walk in with it and make an appearance. To have some fun showing off his costume.(Side note- We were going to have Connor go as Darth Vader to complete the Star Wars theme, but he hated it! It was catching on his legs or something. As we were trying to get out of the door to get to the party, Connor was screaming, Ian was talking non-stop and we were slowly losing some of our sanity. We took Connor's costume off completely and just bundled him in the car with his regular clothes and a "Lightning McQueen" hat. Halloween is supposed to be fun, right?)
In the parking lot, I tried to coax Ian into his Walker costume but to no avail. It went something like this-
Ian- No Daddy! I don't want that! The walker is for NEXT Halloween!
Me- Umm... What? You've been asking to be an AT-AT Walker for two months. You had Mommy make a sketch. Why don't you just try it for a short while to show everybody? Then you can take it off to play.
Ian- DadDEE, NOOO! I just want to be a stormtrooper!
Linda was busy getting Connor out of the car. Ian and I went back and forth like this for about two minutes until I eventually gave in. Halloween is supposed to be fun, right?
Me- Okay E. Whatever makes you happy. I'll put it back in the car.
This is when Linda stepped in...
Linda- I HAVE HAD ENOUGH! We are going HOME! No party tonight! That costume is exactly what you asked for and your father spent hours making it! You even helped him. If you don't wear it, even for a short time we are going home! Walk in with it on and then you can take it off!
Ian- stunned silence
Me- stunned silence
Wow! I really love my wife. She is calm when I am stressed, gentle when I am stern, and hell on wheels when needed! Mothers must develop this stern technique biologically. Maybe when they are pregnant? She sounded exactly like my Mom when I was in second grade! (The year I freaked out about my costume! I asked to be The Hulk and then had a meltdown when I had to put The Hulk costume on.) I wondered for a few seconds if she was pushing Ian too hard. He squeaked a little "okay" and turned so I could put the walker over his head. We all went inside. Whew.
Everybody loved his walker costume (especially all the other thirty-something dads). Ian took the walker part off after a few minutes and we set it aside. He proceeded to have a great time at the party, running around, eating snacks and generally having fun for about an hour. Crisis averted!
Until he won "Best Costume"!
This time he wouldn't budge and started to have a meltdown. He won a $10 gift card to Target and actually tried to give it back to Mr. Meza. Ian- I don't WANT to stand for more pictures! I'm tired! I don't WANT to put on the walker! I'm hungry! Mr. Meza, I don't want this! I want to go home!
Maybe Halloween is sometimes just too much for little kids. Ian was too upset to think clearly and probably really hungry too. He isn't sure how to act sometimes, and gets wrapped up in the enormity of RIGHT NOW. I know I was like that as a kid. Ian really is a good kid and I guess sometimes being four is a lot to handle.
We had Ian go over to Mr. Meza and thank him for the prize. We got home, got everybody fed and just relaxed for the rest of the night. Whew.
Friday-
I was home with the boys on Friday. Connor had two appointments in the morning and after lunch we hit the store to get some food and candy. I let the boys pick out one bag of candy each while I grabbed small one too. They pushed the cart all around the store. I was trying to tire them out so they would take a nap at 1:00pm. They did not. Connor played with his cars and Ian did some pre-school type workbook sheets with me. Linda got home at 3:00pm and I crashed at 3:30. It had been a long day. She woke me up around 5:00pm and guess what? The boys were out!
Cindy and Rick invited us to go over to their neighborhood for Trick or Treating. We made a quick dinner and headed out at 6:00pm. We did have Ian wear the walker costume for a few pictures but that was all. As you can see he wasn't very happy about it.
He did have a great time going around to each house with his friend Trevor. They had a lot of fun.
Connor was little skeleton guy. Linda picked him up this cute little shirt to replace the Darth Vader costume. He was really hesitant at first going to each house but soon got the hang of it. Free candy is a good motivator! When he got tired of holding his bucket he gave it to me to carry...
...until the next house that had candy! He even said "Twik Tweet" a few times.
After we got home, we stopped at two of our close neighbors houses to say hi and Ian asked to wear the walker part so he could show them. He tromped up and down the street making robot noises and I pretended that he was chasing me. If you look closely you can see that Ian looks really happy. Smiles all the way... like the last two days of meltdowns hadn't happened.
Back in the house, Connor went right to his cars for some downtime. Ian helped me hand out candy and was very generous. Full handfuls of candy for everybody! We got rid of all three bags before the creepy-teenagers-that-are-probably-too-old-to-trick-or-treat started to come by at 9pm. We then put the boys to bed and I sang a few Halloween songs with them.
Maybe Halloween is too much for parents. We try to make everything perfect for our children's future memories. As I was making Ian's walker costume I wondered who was more excited about it. We have two wonderful and funny boys. I hope they remember the fun parts from this year. I wasn't laughing much today, but I know I will have a good story to tell and laugh about when they are older.
