It’s been two and a half weeks since Halloween yet my 3-year-old is still living in Neverland. I can’t for the life of me get the kid to shed his Captain Hook costume.
Don’t get me wrong. I love his costume and I think he looks really cute in it, but it’s getting a little old.
I made the costume in the middle of October and he immediately attached to it – wearing it all day, everyday. It was really fun to go shopping with him right before Halloween. People thought he was so cute and would dote over him. We got a lot of stares and smiles.
Nearly one month later, we are still getting a lot of stares and not so many smiles. I bet people think I am totally crazy letting my child walk around as a Disney character.
I have a couple of problems with him always wanting to wear his costume.
First of all, he constantly wants to be someone else. When he has his costume on, he marches around the house with a scowl as he sings the theme song to “Hook.” He won’t play anything with me or anyone else. He’s too far into character. Besides, it’s too hard to play with Play-doh, Legos, Tinker Toys, animals, etc. when you have a hook in one hand and a sword in the other.
Second, when he wants to be Hook, he wants to be Hook. I can’t convince him to put just part of his costume on, he has to put on the hat, wig, shirt, collar, jacket, pants, shoes, hook and sword. Oh, and I have to draw a curly eye-liner mustache above his upper lip.
I’m glad we have gotten our money’s worth out of the costume, but I want to put part, if not all, of it away.
Lastly, the costume has taken over his life. I don’t know where to draw the line between his make believe and reality. Who am I to crush his imagination and tell him he can’t play pretend anymore? When do I tell him he has to be my son and not Hook? I’m getting worried that he constantly wants to be someone else.
On Tuesday I told him he couldn’t be Hook because I wanted him to play with me and he doesn’t play with me when he’s Hook. His response? He told me he’d give me a $100 if I let him wear his costume.
Nice.
What should I do to ease our transition away from Halloween? What do you do for your children? I love my children and I want them to be innocent, creative and imaginative, but I don’t want my son to still be wearing his costume on Christmas.
Boogers on the Wall 
Nov 17, 2011 @ 15:09:55
My little girl wears her costumes in public, but she is just a princess in Sunday clothes, so it’s not quite noticeable. I don’t know what advice I can give, but I do wish you luck. It’s so hard to talk them out of their alter-egos. 🙂
Nov 17, 2011 @ 20:35:33
Thanks Jessica. I need all of the luck I can get on this one. 🙂
Nov 17, 2011 @ 16:17:02
Maybe you could collect a few more costumes or pieces from a thrift store or off clearance racks post Halloween and make a dress up box. Then you can let him know you want to encourage dress up but you also love and miss your son. It might help distract him from a singular character while emphasizing his own character. He’s a cutie though!
Nov 17, 2011 @ 20:36:13
I LOVE your idea for a dress up box. We have a bunch of costumes already in the basement. I need to get them out and put them in a box for “play” time. Thanks Tiffany!
Nov 17, 2011 @ 22:53:34
Wow, how’d he already figure out the bribery thing?! That kid’s a character.
Nov 18, 2011 @ 05:41:21
You have some very clever kids there. I guess you could just tell him it is in the Halloween box. Does he watch the movie a lot? Maybe change out the movie to a different one and he’ll want to try something else to dress in–a Christmas elf??? Good luck and the next time he puts the costume on, ask where is the $100.
Nov 18, 2011 @ 09:23:41
Wow, he bribed you with money! I honestly have no good ideas for you, I just wanted to comment on how much I love your creative titles for you blog posts.
The last few times I’ve seen him he’s been dressed as an army man instead. Maybe the dress-up box idea will help him to switch it up enough that he can just be in costume and not actually in character all the time. Good luck! And if you need some extra dress up items, you can borrow some of ours.