Book Character Day

Dressing up has gone to new levels since moving here. The easy accessability to relatively cheap custom-made costumes has turned our already packed basement into a diva's delight, or rather divas'. There must be a dozen dance outfits, wigs of varying length, boas, crowns, and even a giant sausage. Between Halloween, recitals, plays and Dulwich's book character day, the number is sure to increase.

The only difficulty comes in trying to decide what to be. Sydney had picked out her character several weeks ago when we took the Extreme Reading photos. She wanted to stay within the Tudor period, taking on Queen Mary, aka Bloody Mary as she told me. Sarah, with some input from her sister, chose Heidi. She really wanted to carry a real baby lamb, but I feared the poor thing would end up in the lunch room. She made do with a stuffed one. Katie, of course, waited until we'd already finished shopping to tell me she wanted a fancy costume, but she didn't know what to be. After seeing some red sparkle shoes, she wanted to be Dorothy. We couldn't find a dress off the rack, and we didn't have enough time to get one made. Just before an imminent meltdown, I spotted a pair of fangs in a shop window and an idea formed. Our obsession with vampires paid off. I told Katie she could be Mina from Bram Stoker's 'Dracula'. She liked the idea of being Dracula's girlfriend.

This morning started early. The girls were excited to get dressed. After breakfast, I applied makeup, braided Sarah's hair, pinned on Syd's crowns and drew fang marks on Katie's neck. I walked to the bus stop to see what the other kids were wearing. I chuckled to myself as SpongeBob, SpiderMan, and a Power Ranger boarded the bus. I guess everyone's intrepretation of a 'book' character is different.