On Saturday morning, we headed out to MallCity, NJ for our weekly list of chores. Gifts for the nieces. Check. Frames for the train prints. Check. Halloween costumes.
We examined the wall of costumes at Party City. The first selection was for Ian. The most important criteria was that it couldn’t have anything that covered his face. That eliminated 3/4 of the options. We steered him to the Obi Wan Kenobi costume. It’s all about the light saber. I voted down Anakin Skywalker.
Because of the Clone Wars series on Cartoon Network, the kids today seem to think that Darth Vader is a good guy, which is so wrong. I chalk this up all to all the other misinformation that they are feeding kids. Like the Brontosaurus is no longer called a Brontosaurus. It’s apparently an Apatosaurus. Next thing, they’ll be telling me that Pluto isn’t a planet. So wrong.
Next up was Jonah. Jonah was being rather wishy washy about his outfit. He had an idea of being an unmagical magician. We were playing around with the idea of chicken in a top hat. So, we browsed through the aisles looking for more inspiration. Then we came to the weaponry section.
Jonah has been a knight or a Roman for the past few Halloweens. We wanted him to branch out this year. But he picked up a long sword and got a far away look in his eye. He began posing in various heroic stances and I knew it was all over. So, we’ve got the sword, but nothing else. I’ve got a few days, so I might be making some sort of Crusaders tunic for him. When am I going to get the time for that one?
Apt. 11d 
The 10-minute Crusaders costume:
Take one Dad’s t-shirt, white (OK) grey (better). Take one pencil. Take one red marker (the bigger, the better). Take two big safety pins, or failing that, needle & thread.
With pencil, sketch out a cross on the front of the t-shirt. A basic Roman cross is OK, but you could get fancy here
Color in with red marker.
Gather sleeves onto the shoulder with pins or basting stitch.
Done.
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Not exactly related, but I was shocked — SHOCKED — to find out last week from my daughter that there is no longer such a thing as “leftie scissors.” Apparently, scissor technology has advanced to the point where they are no longer differentiated, orange-handled scissors for grade school lefties.
Also, sitting “Indian style” has somehow been replaced by “Criss cross applesauce.”
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Well as long as it isn’t “Applecore Baltimore”…
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Huh? What kid thinks Darth Vader is a good guy? Stupid kids? No kid I know thinks this. They understand there is a difference between Anakin and Vader — and they get how sad it is that someone who is so heroic can end up being so evil. But they love watching Anakin on “Clone Wars” and don’t think much about Vader. They don’t have to until they watch Episode 3. And if there are any questions about whether he’s a “good guy” after watching THAT, then maybe the kid has bigger problems ….
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JT, I agree that kids ‘get’ the duality of Anakin-Vader. After seeing the movie, myson walked down the sidewalk saying: “I don’t care. I still like Anakin. Go Anakin. Long live Anakin.”
(I’m so dim-witted about Star Wars that I didn’t even bother to notice the PG-13 rating or the reviews, and took him to see it at around age 4. He was terrified, sat on my lap clinging for dear life, but insisted we stay. He claimed even then to love scary movies, and also enjoys bragging that he saw SW3 in theaters.
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