If you put your mind to it

There used to be a cheer when I was in high school...

You can do it, you can do it, if you put your mind to it.

I remember it from high school football games.



Well, we certainly put that to the test with this robe or cape or tent or whatever it is.

This is what Sydney wanted for a Halloween costume. She picked out the pattern. She picked out the color. She supervised the making. Unfortunately, sometime after I cut it out, zebra print became the new purple...but no going back by that time.

And, I can assure you, this is a well made garment. Lined with a polyester silky, purple sheet, the bottom is a faux wool looking oil based product fabric and the top is a velvet looking oil based product...let's face it, if she steps near a candle, she'll melt.

All that gold ribbon is home made on my Pfaff sewing machine.

Doesn't she look like she could work magic??

Seriously, she could sleep outside under this thing. And, it's plenty warm.

Many, many hours were sunk into the making of this costume, including the bound seam edge where the hood joins the cloak. So, what is it that makes a kid decide at the last minute that she's not going to wear it or hand out candy or anything else having to do with the day?

She was mad at me, and acting like she didn't want to wear what I made was her way of getting back at me, for making her do Spanish homework on Halloween. How dare I???

"I don't have Math. No teachers gave us homework cuz it's halloween. I'm tired of doing Spanish every day."

All I did...after making her finish the Spanish...but not checking it again last night because, well, what good was it going to do to make her do it again??? I knew she was focused on being mad at me and not the work and was doing a bad job of it on purpose. Normally, I'd have had her walk away and do something else, like shower, and come back to the Spanish when she was in a better frame of mind. A frame of mind to learn something. But, it was Halloween and I didn't want her at the dining table all night long. So, I relaxed a bit and let her be mad and let her sit there and pretend she didn't want to play halloween. And, eventually, after I said "really? I did all that work and you aren't going to even wear it?" she did get up and go put it on and then plomphed back on the couch with a big sigh.

Me, I just kept cutting tiny threads on my holiday quilt and by the time the second trick-or-treater had rung the bell, she was up and handing out candy.

Sometimes I just have to ignore the bad and only acknowledge the good. It all works out because I gave her TWO spanish assignments for tonight. And, I'm going to create a quiz on the periodic table.

Revenge is soooooo wickedly sweet.

Mwaaaahahaaaaaa!!

Hope everyone has a great All Saints Day or Dio De Los Muertos.

Lane