The Child Who Got Swallowed By A Halloween Fireman’s Costume

Ay, scarier than you think ok.

THIS was what I was hoping he’d wear:

Guitar circa last birthday/ Christmas (I forget) that plays actual funky tunes

Very soft cotton plain – as in no annoying act-cute cartoon logo things – tee from Adelaide (I forget the label but at around AUD 30 was more expensive than all the logo-ed things they were selling)

Punky ski hat from Thredbo that was AUD 80-something

I was standing by to snip the fingers off a pair of his old gloves and add his new sunnies but that was when we got into a huge fight because he refused to let me take any more pics.

Me: You are wearing whatever you want to wear to school today (though Mummy really wished you would wear the other outfit), WHY can’t you let me have ONE LOUSY PICTURE of the other outfit???!!!

Rockstar: <takes everything off pronto and also refuses to eat – we don’t speak to each other again for an hour – then…..> Mum. I’m going to be late for school.

Me: No you’re not, I’m really angry with you and you’re going to be hungry but I’m still not going to let you be late for your School Halloween Dress-up Day.

<pause>

Rockstar: <gravely> I’m sorry, Mum.

And so my son is in school today as The Boy Who Got Swallowed By The Cheap Fireman’s Costume We Got In Sai Kung On A Whim. Not scary enough? How bout this – It’s freaking phototaking day in school today!!!

Lotsa other mums are going to see that ill-fitting costume ok 🙁 I am in costume too – as Mum Who Let My Child Go To School Today As The Walking Cheap Oversized Costume. It was more my fault than you know because it completely slipped my mind til this morning that it was Dress-up Day – despite a note in his diary I somehow thought it was next Friday (my brain cells have been somewhere else I know), so I hadn’t gone looking for a better-fitting costume or tried to make that one fit. I thought I had one more week <sad> and now it shall be recorded on camera for all to see for years to come that I forgot. sobs.

We bought the costume he’s wearing in Sai Kung because he wanted to play with the toys that came with and the whole thing was like HKD 149 or something – inclusive of plastic walkie-talkie, fire extinguisher (refused to let him fill the spritz-bottle with water), plastic axe (couldn’t include in costume after he put it on or he would not be able to walk), waterhose, official badge (velcro-ed it to him).

It’s like when Kings used to insist on wearing this ugly not-real Batik shirt every Casual Friday at his last place of work and people were all calling him whatever Cantonese for “Datuk” is for ages. (Not that he liked it, but that he didn’t care, it was just his Regular Casual Friday Shirt, and I used to just leave him be but then at some point when you start looking into having children with this guy you need to worry if it’s hereditary.)

Sure enough, we pull up outside school today and everyone is in seriously cool gear.
A child dressed head-to-toe as a furry tiger is just getting out of the car. I glance at his mum behind the wheel and then grin and give her a thumbs up – she’s driven her child to school today wearing a matching tiger hat and mask – she winds down the window and calls out, “That’s a cute boy.” I actually hadn’t seen her before and assume she’s one of the fairly new K1 parents. Sigh who probably thinks Rockstar is one of the younger K1s or something – he looks especially tiny because of his oversized costume. But he’s so proud and happy that way. He would not be proud and happy wearing what I think is the cool stuff. (And then someday he’s going to look back at these pics and go, “Crap!!! How could you let me go to school like that Mum!!!” Uh, we talked about that, remember? <smug>)

Rockstar’s principal is a swashbuckling cowboy out front, his teacher is a bunch of grapes (idly I wonder if at the end she’ll hand out the purple balloons attached to her costume) assisted by a pumpkin and… Cleopatra? Looks Egyptian, but I don’t get a good look because a pint-sized Batman pulls her away. Speaking of which, at a quick glance there are at least 2 princesses and 2 stethoscope-d doctors in his class. Rockstar says, “I know there’s another fireman today, but I forgot who it was.” I just barely bite back a “I bet there aren’t any rockstars.” He wants to be one of two firemen today. Shut up, Aileen. Witches’ capes swirl by, as Spiderman tugs his mum’s hand and marches by to his own class. As I leave the class area, out of reflex another mum and I salute a smart policeman who pauses, then gravely returns the salute.

Lots of parents are taking pictures as I pass and I overhear, “We did not have any of this at our previous school last year.” And there are going to be lotsa Halloween parties this weekend too, Halloween is huge and fun in Hong Kong. There are parties in the neighboring primary school and our large development complex, Ocean Park usually has massive ones over the weekend that Kings and I used to go to sans Rockstar but this year we eyed the traffic going in with trepidation, Lan Kwai Fong and Causeway Bay will be crawling with ghouls…..

But this "Howloween" one is my favorite!

Still can’t get the horrible-fitting costume out of my head. It’s going to be preserved in pictures <shiver>