What a circus!

We moms talk. We share our horror stories and battle scars. From the discomfort of pregnancy to the experience of child birth and the many sleep-deprived nights that follow. And then, five or six years later, we continue to talk, warning future mothers of kindergarteners about the costumes that are expected of us so that our little darlings can shine on stage.

Last year, I was on the receiving end, listening in wide-eye terror to the tails of fellow hockey moms who had stayed up late sewing/creating lion costumes for their sons' kindergarten program. Wait a minute! I sat through three years of home ec. class. The teacher said sewing was a great way to design your own clothes and save money. Never once did she mention I'd need the skill to save my son from being the kid with the bad costume in his school show!

The school year has progressed. I've learned to tie-dye. I've pieced together an elf costume. And then came the letter:

Dear Parents,

We are starting to work on our acts for the Circus. It will be a circus you will not want to miss! It will be a 3 Ring circus with all four Kindergarten Classes...

More details followed, and then, the inevitable:

Your child has picked the following part: LION

Thankfully, another good thing about moms is that when we have a good idea, we tend to share. We're all in this together, after all. And so, after taking a few deep breaths, I called my friend Crystal, one of the women who'd made a lion costume the year before. Crystal first offered to let us borrow her son's costume. But of course AJ wanted one of his own. So instead, using the original as a guide, (Crystal is one of those amazingly creative people who makes things without patterns.) I was able to put together... drum roll please...

... the cutest lion costume ever!

My right thumb is killing me from cutting too many layers of blanket fleece at a time using too dull of a pair of scissors. Admittedly, there is as much hot glue involved as there is thread. But using an inherited sewing machine that's likely older than I am, I threaded a bobbin, figured out how to set the stitch on zigzag, and pulled it all together.

Let's have a roar for Mommy!

AJ absolutely loves the costume. And with a little prompting from Daddy, he even remembered to thank me for working so hard on it.

Let's just hope it all holds together until the end of the day Friday.