Costume Confusion

I’ve been joking recently that the month of October has become a mini-December. Always starts out kind of slow with so much to look forward to and then all of a sudden, you’re nearing the end of the month going here and there, making this and that, dressing up, etc. We love it all; it’s just crazy how eventful it’s become.

I should also note, we love dressing up. Well, Summer and I do and Jordan is usually a good sport about it. Summer picks her costume and then we dress up accordingly to support her theme. We’ve agreed to do this for as long as she’ll let us. This year, she wanted to be a flight attendant, so Jordan was a pilot and I was a traveler/passenger.

One of the best celebrations each year was held at school. You got to see your friends all decked out, feel a little rebellious wearing makeup or bringing props to school, and certainly had a blast with the classroom parties. I became to love this day as a teacher too and was so excited for Summer to experience it all this year.

Until the green note came home. No parties. No parade. No parents. No costumes. The dress-up theme that Friday was pumpkin shirts and/or black and orange colored clothes. So, they aren’t allowed to wear their costumes, but they can wear Halloween-themed attire? They can’t celebrate Halloween with a class party/parade, but the teachers have fun activities planned all day? Parents can’t attend, but we could contribute? I kept reading…

They mentioned that parents could donate supplies to the classroom activities planned for that day (googly eyes, Play-Doh, pipe cleaners, etc.) so it was clear they were still acknowledging this holiday at school, just without costumes. I was irked, but appreciative that the teachers were working within district guidelines and determined to make it a fun and festive day for the kiddos, with or without costumes.

The letter never identified the reason why it was off this year, but I heard some rumblings that it was because the district was being conscious of those with lower socioeconomic means because it puts a lot of pressure and stress on them to buy a costume for their child. Hmmm…more on this later.

Friday, October 29th, Summer went to school in her pumpkin shirt, candy leggings, and spooky JoJo bow. Her teacher put on a fun day of activities and sent lots of pictures and videos via the app so parents could see. She had a blast.

We had a great holiday weekend celebrating with trunk-or-treat at her school and trick-or-treating on Halloween. We were all still coming down from our sugar rushes, when we got the orange note sent home on Monday, November 1st.

It was a letter explaining their next assignment. To celebrate the students’ reading of their “starbooks,” on November 11th students are encouraged to dress up as their favorite character from one of their storybooks. They plan on having a parade in the 1st grade classrooms to showcase their learning and hard work towards becoming readers. Is this real life?

The timing of this task was impeccable. My kid can’t wear her costume to school to celebrate a holiday, but the very next school day, you send home an assignment that requires her to dress up? I tried not to be irritated, but the more I thought about the irony, the more frustrated I became.

I am definitely behind the school’s initiative of trying to be more conscious of these things. But, in my opinion, this character task is far more difficult (and potentially more stressful and expensive) to someone with limited resources than buying a costume (of which they likely are already buying or making for their child anyway to participate in other Halloween activities). You can easily create a costume from common things around the house, but that’s more difficult when you have to dress as a character in a book, of you which you may have never read and don’t have the means to get the book or do the research on the character.

Don’t get me wrong…as a stand alone assignment, I’m all in on something like this. I can see the academic merit behind it and the joy it sparks in young readers to identify with a character in a story while being recognized by their peers in a fun way. It’s also a great way to get involved in your kiddos’ reading and spark that love of books at home.

Regardless of the true reason Halloween costumes weren’t permitted at school (not isolating those that can’t afford it, not wanting to deal with costumes at school, or not drawing attention to various costume levels), this assignment is the SAME thing. And it came ONE day after Halloween.

We already have Summer’s outfit planned and it was cool to do this with her. I’m still not over the no Halloween costume party and will never understand the logic behind something like that being canceled followed by this request. If I wasn’t so afraid of parent/educational politics, I would do more with my “complaint,” but for now, venting will do.

Stay tuned to see Summy as “Cookie” from “Cookie’s Week.”

What do you think? Am I overreacting? Would you be annoyed too?