Children's Costumes....when did your children stop dressing up?

[TheRatPack]

When did your children stop dressing up for Halloween or Fall Harvest festivals?

Oh sorry...to make this more 'budget' thread worthy. The reason I'm asking is my oldest teen dd wants a spendy costume this year and I'm refusing. She's dressed up since she was a baby and always had nice costumes, this year we're doing a budget trip to Disney and MNSSHP. My younger ones have a costume but they are also going TOT'ing at home later in the month...she won't be. My husband and I as well as our oldest son have all decided to just wear related character tshirts....she's still asking when I'm going to get her the rest of her costume (I did buy her an accessory that can fit with her regular clothing to make her look more like this character she wants to be). I have told her numerous times that I'm not buying an elaborate expensive costume for one night at MNSSHP but she just keeps on.

 

[ilovejack02]

MY oldest is 21 he dressed up almost every year. After say 11 he just did with found items in house, no costume buying per say. At that point he was running the neighborhood with friends riding bikes, or handing out candy with us. Usually a silly wig and some ripped up tee shirt , possibly some face paint sufficed during the pre teen and teen years.

DS8 is of course still dressing up , but I prob wont buy a costume past 5th grade if he still wants one then.

 

[superme80]

In my mid 20s???? We don't celebrate Halloween anymore, but I would not buy costume past 5th or 6th grade. I think once I hit 4th or 5th my parents made me go through the house to find my costume. We had some awesome stuff too!!!!

 

[gillenkl]

I have 2 10 year olds - DD said she doesn't want to dress up this year and DS is wearing his Jack Sparrow costume from last year.

 

[drcmk]

We have school Halloween parades through sixth grade, so I buy/make "nice" costumes through sixth grade. Beginning in seventh grade there are no parties or school events related to Halloween, just trick or treating at night. So I expect my girls to just pull something together from their closets or mine or make something from what we have on hand. I'll spend a few bucks for "finishing touches" like a hat. I think once we get past the age of fifteen or so, they will buy their own "finishing touches" from their allowances.

 

[Shleedogg]

I'm 27, my sister is 18 and we both still dress up. I had a couple of years after I left college where DH and I didn't do anything or had rehearsal for a musical we were in so I didn't dress up. Now that we have a DD though we all dress up. DH thinks I'm nuts. My parents are in their 50s and still dress up every year.

I remember there being years where I wanted a ridiculous costume, like an Elizibethan with the crazy skirts and collar and my mom refused. Does your DD wear her costume to school? I know I did, even in my sr. yr. Are any friends have Halloween parties? Maybe she does have more places to wear them? Imo, she should get the same budget as your other kids. That seems really unfair that because you think she's too old that she can't have a costume.

 

[ilovejack02]

I don't know if I would buy , any Halloween parties to attend , is she going to walk with the little kids? She can spend her allowance or babysit to get the money. Would u be willing to do pay her to do odd jobs round house ? I love Halloween so I am kinda a sucker , esp when it comes to Disney and Halloween lol.

 

[Shleedogg]

I don't know if I would buy , any Halloween parties to attend , is she going to walk with the little kids? She can spend her allowance or babysit to get the money. Would u be willing to do pay her to do odd jobs round house ? I love Halloween so I am kinda a sucker , esp when it comes to Disney and Halloween lol.

Me too! I would be so disappointed as a 6th or 7th grader if my parents had decided that I was too old for Halloween. Why are people in such a hurry to have their kids grow up? . Why not encourage your kids to enjoy innocent, childhood fun as long as possible?

 

[MinnieGi]

Around here we get trick or treaters dressed up through high school. Most have homemade costumes but several have store bought. Why DH and I still dress up!! We are always invited to several Halloween parties both kid-friendly and adult where we need costumes.

At MNSSHP lots of people dress-up from kids to adults!! I would ask her to put some of her own money into buying the costume and see if she really wants it!! That's how I can always tell if my kids really want something- if they are willing to make part of the buy in!!

 

[ilovejack02]

Me too! I would be so disappointed as a 6th or 7th grader if my parents had decided that I was too old for Halloween. Why are people in such a hurry to have their kids grow up? . Why not encourage your kids to enjoy innocent, childhood fun as long as possible?

It isn't that we want our kids to grow up early, just at some point they need to learn to chip in and help out.

This is a little different for me because she will be dressing up at Disney lol, as I said Im a sucker for Halloween and Disney . : )

I didn't feel like I needed to spend a ton on my oldest costume after a certain age so he could just troll the neighborhood, but had he had something special I would have considered helping with it or buying all if not to much money.

 

[NVDisMom]

Every one of us still dresses up. DH and I have been building costumes over the last few years, making them better and more individual each year. Both DDs are still growing, so they can't really do that. DD11 will be borrowing a costume from my mom's closet and DD13 wants to be Mad Hatter. She may end up beginning her every year costume from this year; we shall see. All of us love to hunt for non-retail alternatives and bargains. We sew, craft and make believe our way to really cool costumes. And not just for Halloween. We dress up for the Harry Potter opening nites, Mardi Gras, and birthday parties regularly. Its fun and we all get a kick out of it.

That all being said if one of my girls, especially one old enough to earn her own money, wanted a specific costume then she is certainly welcome to pay for it herself. Something tells me she would quickly be at my side exploring alternatives.

 

[pyrxtc]

I will buy my kids costumes as long as they want to still dress up. My DD13 still dresses up and goes ToTing with me and her siblings. if I'm buying a costume for one kid, then I'm buying for all.

 

[antree]

My DD is 16 and still dresses up. She wanted me to buy a costume this year, I told her we leave for Disney 4 days after Halloween, find the stuff in her closet to make her costume. My DS 8 bought his costume last year in Target on clearance for $8.00 complete, he is a storm trooper this year.
With that said my 30 year old brother still dresses up to Trick or Treat with his kids.

 

[dreamin_disney]

My dd will be 12 in Dec. She doesnt want to dress up this year. She said she will stay home and pass out candy. I reminded her theres only 4-5 people that come to our house-lol! Our neighborhood doesnt really celebrate There arent really any kids on our street or around our block. Most kids go to the bigger newer houses.

I usually decorate. 2 years ago we bought lots of cool Halloween stuff on clearance. We did a lil graveyard and such but not worth it. Not sure if I will decorate this year. Someday I'll bring it all out if we have a Halloween party.

 

[eyor44]

My DS15 dresses up every year. Some years I will buy a costume and other years he will think of something that we can make. One year I bought him a banana costume and the next he was a milk carton, with his picture on the back in a "have you seen me" way. People loved the milk carton and his picture was taken many times that night.

Perhaps you can convince her to be a princess for MNSSHP. Borrow (or buy at a resale shop) a full formal and get a tiara from Claire's. Bet she could be a princess for under $30. or if you know any little girls who do pagents borrow one from them.

 

[Jill in Chicago]

The reason she keeps asking is because this is something she really wants, and she wants you to change your mind. Whether or not anyone on here dresses up past a certain age will not sway your daughter's opinion. If you told her that 100 people posted that they do not dress up, and 1 person posted that they still do, she would say that proves the point that you should buy her a costume.

I think, as parents, we get very caught up in specific items that we will or will not pay for. We feel that once we have made a choice we should never back down. Standing firm as a parent is something I believe strongly in BUT changing my mind, I feel just as strongly about. We can say,"Hey I think you are right. I changed my mind."

Is there any way that she can earn the money by doing chores around the house? If she was willing to work, that would say to me that the costume really is important.

Or, could you say that "x" was the amount you have budgeted for her food or snacks or other purchases, and that her allotment would be cut back to take in the cost of the costume? (NOT saying she should not eat, but that she should choose a lower priced entree or snack on a few days of the trip?)

Did she know that there would be a certain day, "When you turn 12 we are no longer buying Halloween costumes?" Or did this kind of just come up? Was she warned ahead of time? Especially since there are younger siblings involved I think this is important.

 

[allison443]

When did your children stop dressing up for Halloween or Fall Harvest festivals?

Oh sorry...to make this more 'budget' thread worthy. The reason I'm asking is my oldest teen dd wants a spendy costume this year and I'm refusing. She's dressed up since she was a baby and always had nice costumes, this year we're doing a budget trip to Disney and MNSSHP. My younger ones have a costume but they are also going TOT'ing at home later in the month...she won't be. My husband and I as well as our oldest son have all decided to just wear related character tshirts....she's still asking when I'm going to get her the rest of her costume (I did buy her an accessory that can fit with her regular clothing to make her look more like this character she wants to be). I have told her numerous times that I'm not buying an elaborate expensive costume for one night at MNSSHP but she just keeps on.

Why don't you give her a budget and tell her to find something that she likes within that budget? It's not like she wants a costume and has no place to wear it-you're going to the Halloween Party.

My kids dressed up all through high school (they are allowed to wear costumes to school) Even in college they always have Halloween parties they go to so they wear some kind of costume.

 

[stacy2197]

My kids have a haloween dance at school through 8th grade. My 11 year old daughter wants a new costume every year with lots of acceseries. I usualy have to limit her. My son who is 13 alway dresses in the same grim reaper outfit and I beg him to let me buy him a new one. You have to finds some middle ground. I don't want to spend a fortune but have them still look decent and for them to be happy with how they look.

 

[TheRatPack]

I remember there being years where I wanted a ridiculous costume, like an Elizibethan with the crazy skirts and collar and my mom refused. Does your DD wear her costume to school? I know I did, even in my sr. yr. Are any friends have Halloween parties? Maybe she does have more places to wear them? Imo, she should get the same budget as your other kids. That seems really unfair that because you think she's too old that she can't have a costume.

She's homeschooled so no.....she doesn't wear it anywhere else. And I don't think I'm being unfair, she had pretty much stopped wanting to dress up before we adopted our 3 youngest. Now I feel like she's regressing...playing with Barbies and wanting to dress up again. I'm not denying her a costume, you can read my OP and see that I did buy her a 20.00 pair of cow print chaps to go over her jeans and a nice yellow shirt and bandana so she could go as Jessie. That's not enough though, she wants 50.00 red cowgirl boots and a 20.00 cowgirl hat. If I'd went with an adult Jessie costume it would have been around 50.00 plus the cost of boots and a hat too, I'm not spending over 100.00 on a costume she'll wear one time...how is that unfair? I purchased costumes for under 50.00 for the three youngest...we're all going as Toy Story characters. I even had some really cool shirts airbrushed for her dad and I, but she didn't want that.

Me too! I would be so disappointed as a 6th or 7th grader if my parents had decided that I was too old for Halloween. Why are people in such a hurry to have their kids grow up? . Why not encourage your kids to enjoy innocent, childhood fun as long as possible?

She's in 9th grade....LOL I'm not in a hurry for her to grow up....I'm just saying that $$$ expensive costumes should stop at some point.

My DS15 dresses up every year. Some years I will buy a costume and other years he will think of something that we can make. One year I bought him a banana costume and the next he was a milk carton, with his picture on the back in a "have you seen me" way. People loved the milk carton and his picture was taken many times that night.

Perhaps you can convince her to be a princess for MNSSHP. Borrow (or buy at a resale shop) a full formal and get a tiara from Claire's. Bet she could be a princess for under $30. or if you know any little girls who do pagents borrow one from them.

She'd never be a princess....that's her little sisters job LOL As far as past costumes, I've always went out of my way to buy or make their costumes and they've always been a big hit. I'm just not feeling the pricetag for this years costume when it's a one time deal. Especially when they'll be tons of stuff she'll want to buy at Disney when we get there.

 

[TheRatPack]

The reason she keeps asking is because this is something she really wants, and she wants you to change your mind.

Is there any way that she can earn the money by doing chores around the house? If she was willing to work, that would say to me that the costume really is important.

I'm the worst parent about spoiling my children....sometimes I think I'm making them in to snowflakes LOL With that being said...she's saved up about 350.00 from babysitting and other stuff, but she doesn't want to touch that because she's saving for a car. I realize it's important to her...and I've tried to make it happen by getting the chaps and shirt....etc. I've told her we're on a budget, she knows what that means. Our dining is paid for, and I already purchased a gift basket for them upon arrival with some really cool stuff for each of them. As you can probably imagine it cost thousands for us to go to Disney every year with 5 children....add on to that gas, souveniers and MNSSHP tickets....it's quite the trip. I'm not denying her a costume....I offered her a really neat airbrushed shirt and she said she wanted a costume. So I found someone last minute that could make her chaps. I realize that Jessie needs a cowgirl hat and boots....but #1 she'd complain about walking around Disney MNSSHP in boots, especially ones not broken in. And #2 the only place I can find a cheap red cowgirl hat is eBay....and they really aren't cheap LOL I don't know....I want her to be happy but at the same time, she's already exceeded cost of both her younger brothers costumes....at some point I have to say enough.