Forced Creativity

We just spent forty minutes waiting in line to buy a newsboy cap. He needs to go to school tomorrow as a newspaper reporter, the character he was picked to represent in a play. In addition, he had to bring some sort of Southern food. Since he could not bring fried chicken which is the first thing that comes to mind, he settled for key lime pie.

Over the years, we have had to come up with different kinds of costumes for International Day. I am not familiar with the operation of a sewing machine, have no artistic abilities, and am normally just given a couple of days notice. The one costume store I know caters to adults and the rest are of the questionable variety, not that I have ever been in one.

One year he was assigned the Vatican City so he went as a priest. That involved a trip to a Christian clothing supplier. You do not know how hard it is to find the appropriate black shirt with a priest collar for a 11-year old until you have to come up with it. Not to mention the cost. It is not as if he would ever wear it again, at least not in the near future.

The next year was for "Walk Through the Ancient World". He had to go as a pharoah. My husband created the hat with cardboard and ribbon from a craft store. I glued the rest of the ribbon on a white shirt and silk blue shorts. We were quite proud of this one and the hat was even loaned to a friend the next year.

The latest challenge was when he was assigned Tibet last year. The Dalai Lama comes to mind and safety pins held orange and brown fabric draped artfully over a brown shirt. From afar, it almost looks like a robe. I can even use the cloth for something else if I need to. This year, he extracted a promise from his teacher that he would represent the Philippines. We are glad we had the foresight to buy him a "Barong Tagalog" when we went home last year. He thankfully graduates this year as I am running out of ideas.