“I’ve always been one to believe in magic, make believe, and dress up, but becoming a mother did steal a little wonder. You can get stuck in the responsibility of what needs to be done. Do we have enough milk to make it through the week? When will I get all the laundry done? Life can become pretty repetitious.
When I meet my now husband, Chad, right before his favorite holiday (Halloween) in 2012, a lot of our dates were dressing up to take my (now our) son to the children’s museum or work parties dressed up. We didn’t have much, but I’d say we are pretty crafty. A couple of trips to Goodwill and a little makeup and we spent our first Halloween together as Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein.
Halloween became our family thing! And for me, the more creative and homemade, the better. It filled a joy I had been missing. But don’t get me wrong, the business of motherhood still creeped in. A couple of years later, in 2014, I remember rushing to a Boy Scouts Halloween party with my son, and had no intention of trying to figure out a costume. Well, my son wouldn’t stand for it. He was dressed, full face of paint and all, as a skeleton.
What could I possibly put together minutes before we had to walk out the door? I could put my hair in curlers, dark up the circles on my eyes with eye shadow and put on my most Mommin’ jammies. ‘Mombie’ it was. Perhaps we had a Zombie affliction, since Chad and I had dated our way through The Walking Dead TV series.
Years later in 2017, I learned the products on the shelves we buy to wash, condition, pamper and make ourselves up with have little to no regulation. I was shocked to find out while Europe bans 15,000+ potentially harmful ingredients and Canada bans 600+, the US only bans 11. You read that right…only ELEVEN! So I started researching and using safer products.
I love helping others navigate ingredients and educate them on how to ditch toxins (stick with me, it’s coming back to Halloween). Maybe it’s the magic of the season, but one year I just decided I wasn’t going to buy the cheap Halloween makeup full of awful ingredients. ‘Mombie 2.0’ was redone, and it brought me so much joy.
I started to try new looks. How far could I push this safer makeup? While my everyday makeup is tame and low maintenance, Halloween looks can be wild, fun, and outside the box.
Could I be Winifred Sanderson from Hocus Pocus? Yep!
Could I be Spider(w0)man? Sure can!
Could I be an Avatar? Why not?
Every attempt reminds me to be playful and brings me joy. It may be for only an hour or two while my older two are at school and my mother-in-law has my youngest, but I remember moms need to play too! I hope it helps you to remember to play and have fun.
It doesn’t have to be perfect, but sometimes shaking things up and trying something new can re-spark that childlike wonder. As for me and my house, when this mombie is happy and reminded of the wonders of make believe, she doesn’t seem to be quite as scary.”
This story was submitted to Love What Matters by Jaziya Cortes McDowell of Myrtle Beach, SC. You can follow her journey on Instagram. Submit your own story here, and be sure to subscribe to our free email newsletter for our best stories, and YouTube for our best videos.
Read more stories like this here:
Do you know someone who could benefit from this story? Please SHARE on Facebook to let them know a community of support is available.