Getting Ready for Fall & Winter

We picked up our seasonal ski rentals at Goldstock’s today. If you’re thinking of skiing or snowboarding with the kids this year, renting by the season is a much, much better deal than renting by the day. If your kids don’t ski or snowboard yet and you want to learn, I recommend a season pass to Maple Ski Ridge, which is very local and very cheap. It’s also not huge, which is great when the kids are little, but not so fun once they want to conquer huge mountains. Don’t forget that if you have kids in the 3rd or 4th grade, you can take advantage of I SKI NY’s special program that lets them ski for free at a bunch of resorts, and if you have a 5th grader, there’s a similar program form Ski Vermont called the Fifth Grade Passport.

I was worried that we were a little late this year, but even though business was brisk, we managed to get what we needed. When the guy walked out with a pair of skis for J, she had a somewhat pained expression that I interpreted to mean that the skis, which had daisies on them, were slightly too adorable for her. Maybe I was right. Or maybe she was pained because I was analyzing her expression. In any case, he checked for what else was available and came back with something that was an even more complex floral design, and J was like, “It’s fine, it’s fine.” Mostly to shut me up. Which was especially annoying because I thought that the first skis were cuter. But J was positively done with me. Meanwhile M was on the hunt for some wear-to-school gloves, and she ended up picking out a pair that had a weird design. Which I didn’t mention at all, because I’d learned my lesson for the delay. On the drive home we realized that the gloves were designed with “e-tips” so that she could keep her gloves on while playing on her phone. Well, of course. That’s absolutely necessary.

We’re also all set for Halloween. M had it in her head that she wanted to be a pumpkin, and I guess she was lobbying among friends to go for “traditional” costumes: pumpkin, witch, mummy, and so forth. But no, apparently the friends all wanted to be prisoners or criminals or some such, so she bowed to the theme and decided to go with cop. J, meanwhile, had the opposite problem. She wanted to do some group friend thing, but no one was into it. In fact, she specifically wanted to be a crayon among a vast rainbow of crayons, which is what M had done in 5th grade, and I wondered if it was because back then she was little and thinking, “When I’m a big 5th grader I’ll dress up to match all of my friends, too.” And what’s funny is that back when M started dressing with all of her friends, I found it annoying that they were being cliquey instead of creative, and now that J’s friends are the same age and are creative instead of cliquey, I feel like she’s missing out on the fun clannish-ness of that experience. Or maybe I’m afraid that some of her favorite people will all be dressed in coordinated costumes and she wasn’t invited. I sort of hate 5th grade.

Anyway, usually J relies on overpriced catalogs to inspire her costume (like last year’s dryad costume), but apparently the catalog folks have wised up and learned that I never actually buy anything from them, because the catalogs never came. So we went to The Costumer in search of a little inspiration. She ended up deciding to be a minion, and then of course the cheap version of the minion didn’t come in her size, like, anywhere. Basically it was only in small and medium anywhere I looked (and if you’ve found one, don’t tell me now because it’s too late). After much pondering and soul-searching, she decided to kick in her own cash to upgrade from the Mom budget and get the more expensive version. It’s overpriced, but it includes a twirly skirt and magnificent 3-fingered gloves, so she’s excited. And since she has big goggles and a head band covering many distinguishing features. . . .

Okay, I don’t think she’ll be the only minion at school, but she’s adorable and happy. And even if it’s not the most creative Halloween ever, but I’m glad that we’re ready and don’t have to think about it anymore, at least. Except that I need to go buy candy, and check to see if I have other junk to hand out, because I like to make Halloween an exercise in de-cluttering as well.