Peter Pan and The Lost Balinos :: Fam-O-Ween 2019
Lately, I’ve been looking at my kids who are growing at lightening speed and thinking to myself… SLOW DOWN! Stop growing so fast! It’s mind boggling that Little Mama is now an energetic, lover of all things embarrassing, hilarious little 8 year old, and my Little Man, who was once-upon-a-time a mere concept… is now a rambunctious, ridiculously sharp (and not always in a good way) almost 17 month old. Where has the time gone?
Coming up with our annual Fam-o-Ween Costume, and in keeping with our family’s tradition, we usually like it to line up with how our year is going. Last year, we felt very fortunate after rolling the dice of infertility – hence, Vegas, Baby. The year before, Little Mama loved belting out Beatles tunes on full blast, so we were The Beatles, aka, the Balinos. One year we felt imprisoned by the confines of potty training that it made the most sense to be Prisoners in Orange is the New Black. This year, for our Fam-o-ween tradition, we decided almost immediately what we wanted to do. Our year has been all about immersing ourselves in our kids’ lives, learning, play time, and essentially joining in on the fun. We tell them to take their time in learning about themselves and the world around them, and not to grow up so darn fast.
Little Mama is at this tricky age, where she thinks she knows better and has been chasing her rebellious little shadow and learning very quickly, the value of life’s lessons. That’s what made her the most fitting for the job – to be our main lead… Peter Pan.
In every way, we’ve discovered the magic of having such a unique and quirky little girl for our daughter. This year hasn’t always been smooth sailing for the Balinos, but because of what we know as the alternative to being blessed with beautiful, healthy, living children, we work very hard to accept the challenges of parenting and face them head on. But more brave than any parent I know, are these little kids who are just learning to see the world from their perspective, and trying their very best to fit in. It’s a scary place to be at the best of times, and I am more than happy that often, my curious little girl (the modern day Peter Pan as far as I’m concerned), takes every opportunity to escape into her own world. Whether she draws her way into the blissful state of pretend for hours on end, or curls up in her cozy corner with her favorite book while reading to her favorite partner – little mama isn’t afraid to live her childhood life to the very fullest. Unabashedly.
Then there’s the little firecracker that has come into our lives making the boldest statement of all. Peter Pan’s troublemaking nemesis…
This guy doesn’t need a hook and a crooked moustache to shake things up in the Balino household. He just has to be himself. He loves to cause a ruckus even if he doesn’t even know what the word ruckus means. Heck, he can’t even pronounce anything that doesn’t have the sound “da” in it (and yes, that sadly includes the word “Mama). And the funny thing is – contrast to his big sis, he is in such a rush to grow up. He is learning quickly how to help mama around the house – sweeping the floor, washing the dishes, wiping the table, and even likes to make mommy freshly pressed coffee (yummm). He is a nosy err… curious little thing, that gets into everything he can possibly wrap his chubby little fingers around. We love every millisecond of it, but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that this guy is as trouble making as they come. Just like his buddy, good ol’ Captain Hook. But you can call him Captain Cook, since he’s alway wearing his chef hat.
Of course Little Mama wouldn’t let Jenny, her beloved sidekick, be left out of our Fam-o-Ween shenanigans. I told her, if Jenny was to be a part of our Peter Pan fun, I wasn’t about to scour the interwebs in search of the perfect Tinkerbell outfit for a very particular 18″ doll mini-me version of my kiddo. She would have to come up with something herself. So… she made it.
It was pretty simple really. She took one of her old fairy wings from her toddler years, found a green elastic waffle crochet ribbon lying around from an old project, as well an old sequin bright green pillowcase that we all know will never see the light of day. We picked up a gorgeous spool of sparkly green tulle from the fabric store and got to work.
Measure, cut, knot, and smile was basically all it took, and voila! Tinkerbell (or who we affectionately refer to as “Tinker-Jenn”, Peter Pan’s ride or die and magical sidekick.
Part of us hanging on to our kids’ childhood years is being flexible and open to “interesting” requests. So if that means Little Mama‘s 18 inch daughter, as creepy as it may be, is required to make an appearance on our annual Fam-o-Ween shenanigans, so be it.
Peter Pan has always been such an old time favorite of mine and George’s as kids. I even relish every morsel of magic while flying on the Peter Pan ride at Disneyland. Quite honestly, I don’t actually remember reading the book cover to cover – but I know the story like I actually did. Now that we’re parents, I can see the thrill of never wanting to grow up, and the creative genius behind such a concept. But like anything in the mystical world of pretend – it’s not always what it’s cracked up to be. John and Wendy Darling learned this very quickly upon following the very intriguing Peter Pan to Neverland. And just like us (G Darling and Wen-D Darling – cuz you know I’m all about the puns), we’ve learned to love the idea of our family moving forward into the next chapters of our lives. Growing up, meeting new milestones, developing new roles and relationships, finding our way in this often intimidating world, falling flat on our faces and getting back up – it’s all a part of the beauty of life. And growing up. This year in particular, we have embraced all the changes and faced all the challenges arms opened wide with eyes closed shut. But as much as we have learned, in every which way as parents – we are lost. And we’re just finding our way through this chaos called parenthood.
Friends, allow me to introduce to you – Peter Pan… and the Lost Balinos!
Happy Halloween!
Never Grow up, well – at least on Halloween,
Kileen
cute & little