bug boy's mama (re)learns a lesson

Gabriel wants to be a superhero named Bug Boy this year for Halloween. His superpowers are those of an insect: he can float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. No wait, that's someone else. Well, in any case, he can fly, jump, sting, and buzz, and he might also wield a sword on occasion, if the situation called for it. 

My son has been conceiving the costume for weeks now, and long ago he told me that Bug Boy's symbol is an enormous stag beetle which should boldly emblazon his four year old chest. Hmm. All these details were making me nervous and the more I put off realizing them, the worse it got. Finally after school yesterday I announced we would work on his costume.

I brought the laptop to the kitchen table, hunched over it, and started scouring the internet for images of stag beetles that could be easily translated with felt and hot glue into a costume centerpiece. Things were not looking good as I clicked away, and my optimism flagged. Meanwhile my little boy was sitting next to me drawing a whole page full of amazing bugs.

After way too long, I noticed what he was doing. And suddenly felt pretty ridiculous.

Gabriel! Do you think that big mean ant could be Bug Boy's special symbol?

He looked up at me and smiled, nodding proudly. Yes. 

There it is. We cut it out and used it as a template for bright blue felt, then hot glued it (the glue is like a bullet that comes out of a gun!) onto an old red turtleneck. Gabriel's ant is far better than any Internet-inspired beetle I could possibly have come up with.

When we first started researching how to make his costume - which also had me staring at a screen, falling down various online crafting holes - Gabriel got frustrated with my inaction. He marched right up to me and said, Mama. We don't need more ideas from the computer. What we need is ... democracy!!

The minute he made this declaration we both nearly fell out of our chairs laughing. Too much exposure to election coverage on NPR, I suppose, because he delivered that line just like Mitt Romney. It was deliriously silly. But now I realize he was right. At least when it comes to art-making, we do need more democracy and less internet around here! The citizenry have plenty of excellent ideas. If only I'd remember to ask them first.