Today’s recycled post, from November of 2007, made me smile when I read it. It seemed especially pertinent since I spent part of Saturday cleaning our bedroom closet. I got rid of four sacks of clothes. But not the costumes. Never the costumes. Who knows when the kids will need them?
The Costume Box – Recycled
“Hi Mom, I thought of something for you to bring this weekend when you come: a dress from the costume box. It might work for one of the actresses in the play.”
She directed me to exactly the right box in the attic. I placed the yellow Tinkerbell wings she wore when she was two on the floor, dug past her Bye, Bye, Blackbird dance recital costume, and finally pulled out the dress we think she’s talking about. It’s one I wore in a play over twenty years ago. “Does it look 1930ish?” she asked.
I wasn’t sure so I went to the cedar chest and found two skirt sets, not costumes but clothes too dear to send to Good Will, that I thought might work. After we said good-bye, I added them to the growing pile of things-to-take-to-Anne-this-weekend.
For some reason, her request cheered me. My kids loved to dress up, even when most children abandon the world of make believe. The costume box was one of their favorite toys. It still is. After all, my college-aged daughter isn’t finished with it yet.
I hope she never is because I love sharing the costume box with her. Hey, I still dress up now and then. And it’s nice to have someone around who gets what that’s all about, who understands how important a childlike imagination is, especially for adults.
Funny how a phone call and a costume box can be a blessing, pardon the pun, in disguise.
