Halloween Was Saved
By Melissa TosettiI confess that I am NOT a naturally born organized person and procrastination is heavily embedded in my DNA. It’s a constant fight. But years of getting bit by my bad habits have made me vigilant about combating my natural tendencies.In late September of last year, we published in our weekly newsletter The List, the following task:
Ready or not, Halloween is just 5 weeks away. If you or your children have ever experienced the frustration of running out of time before being able to put together the costume you really want, it’s time to start planning now!
The Tosetti Family loves costumes and we enjoy attending many costumed events throughout the year so we appreciate just how much time energy and effort can go into the costume process. We’ve also learned that without giving yourself enough time, what should be a fun project can turn into a stressful, really not fun experience.
I’m so grateful I followed my own advice!You see, my son Dante has recently become a rabid fan of a Japanese cartoon called Naruto. So of course for Halloween he wanted to go as one of the characters who goes by the name of Kakashi. Back in September we started figuring out what we needed to purchase and also what we needed to make for the costume and got to work.A few weeks prior to the beginning of our costume endeavor, my dad went into the hospital. He suffers from COPD so we anticipate at least one hospital stay a year for him. However, by the time we began working on Dante’s costume, I had already made two trips to the hospital to visit him.Unfortunately, my dad’s health has deteriorated and in the last eight weeks I’ve made the 2 – 3 hour drive seven times to three different hospitals – once coming off a flight from a trip to Washington and once just this last Saturday at 3:10 am after getting a call that he needed immediate brain surgery.I’m so grateful that I’m able to be there for my dad and for my wonderful stepmom Linda. Admittedly though, not having control of my schedule has made the last two months - challenging.Thankfully, as stated above, I heeded my own advice and we started on Dante’s costume as early as we did. He was able to be Kakashi at a party the Saturday before Halloween and on the holiday itself.As I mentioned we are a family that loves costumes. We’re so happy that Dante also loves the artistic expression of creating costumes and dressing up and for a short time that he was able to “be” a character he has become so fond of.Those eight weeks last year were been a powerful lesson to me to do the important things first, get ahead on as many projects as possible and be mindful that the time I may have thought I had to take care of a task may not appear. I plan to focus on strengthening these habits though not from fear that something bad will happen but with a goal of wanting to execute those tasks in a relaxed manner giving them the focus they deserve. I’ll chalk this up as yet another powerful life lesson I learned from my dad.Side Note: Do you have any idea how hard it is to create “anime” hair before 8:00 am on a school day and under the influence of just one cup of coffee? Hung that kid’s head upside down over the arm of the couch while I applied two layers each of gel, hair spray, extra strength hair spray and silver color spray.Secondary Side Note: It’s difficult to see from the photo, but Dante is holding a “dagger” my husband Paul built out of foam and then painted. He is also wearing a pouch that Paul also built for him. Dante was practical about wanting to wear his tennis shoes given the amount of trick or treating he planned to do. Love that he’s such a strategist!