This boy.  He is just . . . wow.  We have so much fun.  How do you explain your grandchild to someone that really doesn’t know him?  No matter what you say, you always sound like the proud grandma with blinders on.  I will admit, I can be that proud grandma on any given day but I typically don’t wear blinders.  I am pretty honest and realistic about my kids and grandson.  But I have been known not to acknowledge the negative and I admit it.

But I’m not here for that today.  I am here to introduce you to this boy.  So let’s just start with Halloween.

A few weeks ago, his mom started talking to him about what he wanted to be for Halloween.  He is obsessed with being a policeman so I thought he would want to wear something along those lines since he already has some dress up clothes for a police officer and a SWAT team member.  They had a few discussions and at some point, he decided that he wanted to be a pumpkin. And then he brought it up again.  A few days later, he mentioned being a pumpkin again so his mom determined he had pretty much made up his mind.  She started looking for what she thought would be an easy costume, a pumpkin/jack-o-lantern.

The thing is, by the time most boys are 4, they want to be an Avenger or Batman or one of the Paw Patrol, a Star Wars character or a ninja, or anything that is cartoon or testosterone driven.  There are not a lot of pumpkin costumes for preschoolers.  So his mom decided to make one for him.  We went looking for materials.  Her fiancé and I just made her crazy with our opinions and suggestions.  She had a plan but she needed us to butt out.  So she went and got the materials and when it was just her and my grandson at home, she made his costume the night before his Fall Festival at school.

He loved it.  He was so excited.  It was totally not what I envisioned and it was totally perfect.  He could not wait to wear it.  He put it on before the festival and showed all his friends.  At one point, one of the little girls in his class criticized his costume and it hurt his feelings a bit.  He shared it with his mom and dad and then moved right on past it.  He had a great time.  And when given the option a few days later to wear his Chewbacca costume/pajamas for Trick or Treating, he wanted to wear his pumpkin costume.

What I love about this is that he made his own choice and did what he wanted to do.  When a friend criticized his choice, even though it hurt, he stuck with it.  I know that will not be the case one day.  A friend will make fun of him and he will cave to peer pressure.  We all have to go through it.  But he’s not there yet, thankfully.  And maybe he won’t.  That would be cool.