O Captain! My Captain!

 

Halloween was probably Andrew’s favorite holiday when he was young, even though he didn’t need an excuse to put on a costume. He considered his stash of costumes his everyday clothes. I know I made at least three Captain Hook outfits for him. As he grew, he didn’t lose interest in the fella and he had to be in full dress to play the part. Being the good mother that I was I wasn’t about to have him wear a cheap retail version of the outfit.  Horrors! What would people think of me? Each year for about three years I pulled out my machine and  whipped up another one. He’s the only kid I know that actually wore out a pair of black rubber boots in less than a year (they had the sole coming off and a hole in the toe) because he played so hard.

He was so enamored with Hook. Peter Pan with Mary Martin was one of his favorite movies to watch. He knew the dialog by heart and he had the hook, the eye patch, and had even figured out a way to fake a wooden leg. He once asked my mother who was a nurse and the director of a home health agency if she had any patients that died and had a wooden leg would she save it for him. LOL! I believe he would have been ok with having his hand cut off and a hook surgically attached!

O Captain! My Captain!

When he was about six he discovered  Zorro. The black and white, thirty minute version came on a certain channel late at night – very late. He begged to stay up late on Saturday nights to watch. Of course we caved and let him. He was so cute! 😉 Out came the sewing machine again because he had to have a Zorro costume and it had to be as authentic as I could make it. We made weekly trips to Party City to buy a new sword. I know he longed for the real thing and ruined many a metal music stand and I can’t tell you how many swords, because the metal on metal made  the slashing of swords seem real to him! His dream then was to take a fencing class so he could sword fight.  Thankfully that never happened.

For some reason I found pictures of him in two different versions. Was one his dress clothes and one his work clothes? It didn’t matter as long as Andrew was happy.

Cape and all!

Now he doesn’t have to paint that mustache on!

 

He final outgrew that stage of his life, though Jordan did tell me that  her and Andrew were going to dress up as Mary Poppins and Bert this year. Humm? I’ll need pictures! That was another one of his favorite movies.

Halloween is near. In fact its right on our doorstep! Not that you would know that by shopping in the stores. Christmas décor and Christmas items have been on the shelves for weeks now. Why can’t the retailers let us get through one holiday at a time? I don’t believe I’ve even seen anything pertaining to Thanksgiving. Are we skipping right through that this year? We’ll be looking at Valentine’s Day before the end of the year. If you don’t buy early you lose out completely because all that is left on the shelves are bits and crumbs. I haven’t even bought my Halloween candy yet. And I may be too late. If Captain Hook stops by he will be taking a chance to get candy matched to the holiday. I may be giving out Christmas candy.

Elle