TikTom Mom Begs Parents To Ditch Family Costumes If Their Kid Is Not On Board
Don’t dress up your five-year-old as a cup of coffee for Instagram likes.
There is nothing wrong with a family costume. I repeat: family costumes are a-okay in my book! A family full of minions? Cute! The cast of Willy Wonka and a baby dressed like an Oompa Loompa? Say less!
However, once a child can decide for themselves what they’d like to be for Halloween, all bets are off. One mom went viral for begging parents to quit dressing their kids in costumes they don’t want to be in because your child’s desires should come before your Instagram aesthetic.
She thinks you’re just going to need to suck it up and deal with it when your kid asks to be Pikachu or Spider-Man.
“Let your kid dress up as what they want to dress up as for Halloween. If I see another Halloween with all these moms making their kids dress up in these cute family costumes that the kids don't want to be dressed up as ...,” TikTok mom and home renovator, Maggie McGaugh, begins in her video.
“Is it cute that you're matching baristas and your kids a cup of coffee? Yes. Does your five-year-old want to dress up as a cup of coffee? No.”
She goes on to say that parents shouldn’t be dressing up their kids in costumes just to get some Instagram likes. It’s not about parents. It’s about the kids.
“If your kid doesn't want to be in that costume, don't do that for Instagram likes. This is their memories,” she continued.
“I just get so bummed out thinking about how different my Halloween memories would have been had I been forced to be in a costume for Instagram likes for my parents. Like, that's not what Halloween is for.”
She’s not wrong.
I saw a family on Instagram dressed up like the cast of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Was it adorable to see young kids dressed up like Ferris and Sloane? Of course! But what 7-year-old child knows who those characters even are? Why are we dressing our kids up in movie characters that were popular 20 years before they were even born?
I also saw a family costume where the mom decided to take center stage as Princess Aurora from Sleeping Beauty while her children were her fairy godmothers.
“Let your kid's dress up as like cheesy Spider-Man and Paw Patrol. Please. Thank you,” McGaugh concludes.
After McGaugh’s take went viral, several moms noting that family costumes can still be adorable, but the decision on what theme to go with needs to be on the kid’s terms.
“I have my son pick his costume and then figure out what the rest of us will be based off of that. So it's cute family costumes AND what he wants,” one user wrote.
The OP replied, “That’s what we do too!!! I think it’s fun to work with what they want to be!”
“We had a Princess, a spaceman, a dragon trainer, and a potato. they all were so happy to be what they wanted to be 🥰,” another confirmed.
Others clapped back at McGaugh and said, “Jokes on you because my girls 100% look forward to our themed costumes every year! They have the choice and choose to be themed every time”
“We do both because I’m extra. He gets to pick a costume for trick or treating & then family costume for our Halloween party,” another said.
