This Mom Dressed Up in 125 Different Costumes to Teach Her Son a Major Lesson

When Julie Mudrick's son was in the third grade, she grew concerned that Luke was being too hard on himself. To her, he seemed almost scared to have fun, so in order to show him that it was OK to be silly and just enjoy life, this Virginia mom came up with a creative plan.

On her way to pick up Luke, this mom of five bought a pair of playful sunglasses and greeted him at the bus stop wearing her new shades. From there, she got the idea to dress up in a different costume every day in October to make her son smile after school. That was back in 2013, and since then, she has carried on this tradition every Fall with a total of 125 different costumes.

Julie spends 30 minutes on each costume and finds inspiration from items she already has around the house. Her hope is to show her kids that it's OK to be different and she's trying to make a difference one costume at a time. "If I spend 30 minutes a day every school day of October to be unique and bring joy to others, that is my priority," Julie said. "[My kids] are willing to have fun. When they do fail at something they pick themselves back up. And they realize it is okay to be different than anyone else," she told Today.

When Julie's oldest daughter went to middle school, she asked Isabella if she wanted her to stop by her new bus stop as well. But instead of simply agreeing or being wary of what her peers might think, Isabella had a different request: she wanted to start dressing up along with her mom. Since then, the mother-daughter duo has been planning group costumes and everyone in the neighborhood looks forward to seeing their yearly tradition.