Swamp Dad.
Sandler’s been waiting three hundred sixty-four and a half days for his favorite holiday to finally arrive… and it is here: Halloween! He has been everything from Hugh Hefner, Scuba Steve, Ricky Bobby, the entire Sesame Street neighborhood—not to mention Kurt Cobain, Spicoli, and Bjorn Borg. But this year I figured it might have a little something to do with his new favorite past time; when he came up with his costume several months ago he did not disappoint.
We were coming home from the skatepark sometime in April and Halloween was brought up as it usually is several times a week regardless of the time of the year. As we sat at an intersection with absolutely nothing advertising the holiday or even the presence of a character that might strike up such a thought Sandler said, “Mommy, I know what I’m going to be for Halloween!” I quickly turned down the music so I didn’t skip a beat, for I am always intrigued with his creative thought process especially when it has to do with putting a cosutme together for his favorite time of year.
As I eagerly awaited the big debut, I caught a glimpse of a proud smile come over his face and he said with an air of confidence and conviction, “I’m going to be my favorite skater in the whole wide ‘world’!” I immediately responded with what I thought was the obvious answer and asked if he was going to be Tony Hawk? To which he scoffed and said, “No mommy, you are going to be Tony Hawk… I am going to be Swamp!”
Now for those of you who do not know Swamp, he is one of the most incredible skaters to watch. I’ve mentioned more than once that I will come back in my next life able to skate like him for he has the most incrediblely mezmorizing style and an indescribable technique. He has the kind of talent that captivates an audience for hours. Though Sandler is fascinated by his skating there is something about his presents that has had his attention since the first time they met. After making their interductions and exchanging the brotherhood handshake, Sandler came over to inform me that he had just met Swamp and he is his new best “fwiend.”
Like Swamps skating style he has an eclectic sense of fashion and Sandler couldn’t have been more involved in making sure he got every detail nailed to look like his idol. I, on the other hand struggled a little bit with how exactly I was going to pull off looking like the greatest skater of all time who is just a nice normal looking man. But Sandler suggested not to worry and just wear a short wig and carry around a Tony Hawk board because “I look like an old guy anyway.”
So yet another Halloween Sandler gets to slay the creative costume and unfortunately I won’t get to try my hand at being the sexy nurse or the pretty princess. Instead, per my kid’s request, I’ll take back seat and dress as a middle aged pro skateboarder because this year the coolest costume is already taken and Sandler will be pulling off the elaborate look of his idol: Swamp.
- Nikki