Fancy Dress Outfitters

‘You get on floor mummy, you horse.  You my horse.’

And so began our first morning together, me and Mr G, his big sister having started school. I dutifully played horse for all of about ten minutes, before realising this was setting a dangerous precedent for the next two years together.  Horsing around is not good for the back or my favourite jeans. It's also, as anyone who obtained their equity card as the back of a panto horse will tell you, not a terribly challenging role.  I needed to find roles that would work for both of us.

Fancy Dress Outfitter, Sir?

Then Fancy Dress Outfitters asked if we would like to review some costumes for Halloween. Anyone who has tried to explain Halloween to a pre-schooler will know it can be a weird and scary concept for them to grasp.  Mr G still hasn't recovered from me putting on a witches mask I found in a friend's dressing up box over the summer  (I'm a drama teacher, put me in a costume or mask and I do get carried away).  But after quick look on the Halloween section of Fancy Dress Outfitters,  I fell in love with the idea of gothic pirates.

Mr G and I spend much of our time at home dressed as pirates.  It turns out that most household jobs can be achieved 'in role' as a pirate.  Scrubbing the decks, making pirate sandwiches, cleaning and tidying the pirate ‘boat’ all interspersed with finding costumes, making maps and telescopes, digging for treasure, a quick sword fight and hiding from sea monsters. 

So thanks to Fancy Dress Outfitters Mr G has a proper pirate costume and I have a hat, which, I like to think, gives me status, which in turn helps keep everything here at the Alexander Residence ship shape.  Except Mr A is sulking because we didn't get him the Jack Sparrow costume.


Here are Miss L and Mr G doing the gothic pirate look.  I bought both of them ages 4-6 (they're nearly 3 and 5) and they were a good fit, as always good to buy big so they last longer!

Give me your best pirately poses

The hat of power

The great thing about the costumes is they are lightweight and easy to put on. We love our old fashioned dressing up box too and fashioning homemade outfits, but sometimes you can't beat the feel or the impact of a proper costume. The range is absolutely amazing, for both adults and children. Fancy Dress Outfitters is rather like an online version of the shop in Mr Benn.  

There are some great value costumes and accessories to be found, perfect not just for Halloween but for any dressing up event, or school plays.  Mr G's hat cost just £1.50 and whilst my hat costs £6.99 I think it is great quality and would also look great on stage.  (I am available for panto this season, just don't expect me to be the horse).

Image from the legendary Mr Benn by David McKee.  

There's nothing like having your pom poms tickled

The theme at The Gallery is show me the funny.  This really tickled Miss L so I thought I would share it.  We were at Blaze Farm, a working farm and tea shop we visit a lot with my parents.  It's been a frustrating Autumn with lots of time spent in the house with poorly children, so it was great to be out of the house, back on form having fun.  Miss L befriended a cat and he liked her pom poms.

Mr G has been in gangsta mode of late.  It's blurry because it was taken on my phone, but this picture makes me laugh because it all came together randomly. He chose the gear from the dressing up box, the hat, the glasses, utterly unprompted from me.  It also happened that his pants were hanging low and you can see his nappy.  Love the facial expression and the hand gestures too.  Proper gangsta.

Looking forward to laughing my way through everyone else's gallery posts this week :)

Get down and cool the seat of your saddle

Texan to British English translation: come in and visit for a while.

Mr A is in Texas with work this week. We miss him alot, but we are getting more used to his monthly trips abroad. It's always a tiring week for us both, fortnight if you count his recovery from jetlag on his return. But our weeks without him always bring everyone closer (and give me even more respect for single parents). I emailed him this picture of the kid's homage to Texas. He phoned to say he has bought them some dressing up gear. Can't wait to see what they look like. We all want a Stetson!

Starter kits for super heros

It was Miss L's friend's birthday and he loves Super Heroes. His present was going to have to be something along hero lines, but reading PopCo reignited my mistrust of plastic toy tack. Especially as those things we bought for Miss L's birthday, which were inspired by her seeing adverts on TV, were abandoned after the first play in favour of the more traditional old favourites we had selected for her, like a doctor's kit and play dough set. So, determined not to get sucked in again, I googled super hero pre school and I found some excellent stuff.
First though I discovered some nurseries actually ban superhero play, because it is so physical and noisy. Then I read about some who positively channel it, there were some great examples, like making Ben 10 watches and an alien display. Seeing as Miss L and her friends tell me on a daily basis they are not Miss L or Mr A but a superhero, I guess their pre school embraces all things superhero. When I asked at pre school they did indeed show me a very impressive Ben 10 junk model. So I realised I also needed to choose an 'appropriate' super hero gift. That's when I stumbled on the Super Hero ABC by Bob McLeod.

Last time Miss L and her friends were at the soft play centre we were shocked to discover they were mooching about, asking to go home and squabbling. My friend realised they just needed a creative injection and sent them off lookout for 'the giant's keys'. Suddenly they were rejuvenated. The Superhero ABC stuck me as ideal shot of inspiration, at age four they want to
be superhero but don't fully understand what that means. The ABC has a superhero for each letter along with words, actions and kit for that letter. So they learn exciting new words, get positive play ideas and learn their ABC. Plus there are male and female heroes and they are
appropriate for their age. No guns, weapons, dark situations or graphic violence. These heros rescue people with goo, laughter, rain. I loved night man who is 'never nervous of night noises'. Because we all know superheros represent the good side of life and fight some dark forces, but four year olds aren't quite ready to hear all about the dark side.
We also bought the Super Hero Starter Kit by Klutz. The red cape went down a treat with Miss L's friend, apparently he even went to bed in it. It comes with different masks and stickers to create your own hero. I think there is a place for character suits emulating TV/film superheros, but making your own super hero, now that is much more creative. Dressing up when I was little we never had these suits, we made up our creations. I did this recently with Miss L and her friend and they were so much more involved than when they put on pre made costumes.

Excuse me disaster calls, better go, find a phone box to change into, put my pants over my leggings. Today Michael I am supermum (ha ha!)

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