The Brown Worm Saga

For weeks preluding Halloween, Ella was consistant with one thing: being a worm for Halloween. And not just ANY worm, but a BROWN worm. Not green. Not a worm/caterpillar-that-turns-into-a-butterfly (read between the lines: easy to make costume) or a whimsical type worm with lots of colors. Plain and simple, she wanted to be a brown worm. Well, fully wanting to support her daughter's persistant wishes, Erika googled ideas for brown worm Halloween costumes. Let's just put it this way: not much came up, except this:

Earth Worm
•Follow the directions in section 1 for creating a worm costume by wrapping brown cloth around your body, starting at your feet and ending at your chest or neck. Hold fabric in place by attaching safety pins to brown clothing that you wear underneath. Then, attach real or fake leaves and flowers, which can be found at a craft store, all over the cloth using safety pins, glue or tape. Get creative. For a finishing touch, rub brown or black paint on your arms, legs and face to resemble dirt---or use real dirt, if you prefer. Make your hair messy, and attach twigs and leaves to your hair with bobby pins.


Really? Does this really yield a child dressed as an earthworm and not some pile of dirt and twigs? After reading this, it was quickly ascertained that 1. there was no viable brown worm costume out there (real dirt?) and 2. Ella was not going to be a brown worm for Halloween. Forget the support of toddler indepedence and creativity!

So, a couple of weeks later, we were sitting around the dinner table with one and only one agenda: to convince Ella to be something (anything!) else other than a brown worm. We started off listing some basic ideas: Witch! Ghost! Princess! Dora! And no response. Finally, we got stuck on the Black Cat idea. And what sealed the deal? Not just ANY black cat, but a Black HALLOWEEN Cat!

Our Black HALLOWEEN Cat. This COULD have been Ella dressed in brown, hair tangled with leaves, and body smeared with fresh dirt. Phew.