‘You get old because you stop playing’: B.C. mom dresses in elaborate costumes to turn dull days dynamic

Adam finds out the story behind a Vancouver woman who turned the ordinary into something extraordinary.

VANCOUVER, B.C. — After spending years working at home, Anne Bruinn’s weekdays were feeling like a grind.

“I was just a mom,” Anne says. “Get the kids off to school. Clean the house. Go shopping. Life was dull.”

So one day, Anne decided to do something about it. She hung a couple chalkboards her fence, and started writing hundreds of daily quotes for people passing, like “I’m an adult in the same way a tomato is a fruit.”

“Whimsy is important,” Anne says. “It’s nice to be able to make someone smile.”

So, while waiting on the corner for her kids to safely cross a busy intersection on their way home from school, Anne wondered about other ways she could make her days feel more dynamic.

“Because I like to be goofy,” Anne says. “I thought it would be funny to put on a costume.”

So, every day after school, Anne waited on the corner while wearing something different—from an astronaut’s uniform, the Statue of Liberty’s outfit, to a costume of painter Bob Ross including a curly wig and painting on an easel.

“And my kids came home and ran into the house,” Anne says. “And I just stayed out there because I was having such a good time.”

It was so much fun, Anne started building props to support her costumes—from a giant pink Barbie box, to the couch from the sitcom Friends, to the current and permanent replica of the Game of Thrones throne.

“I always felt like I was wearing a mask anyway,” Anne says. “You’re trying to be cool. You’re trying to be the good mom at school. You’re always wearing something.”

But now that she has an opportunity to express her authentic self, Anne feels like she’s become better at playing all the roles that once felt dull.

“Now I get my stuff done first thing in the morning,” Anne says. “I rip through it all and have the afternoon to play.”

While she is grateful to have the time to be creative, and appreciates all the positive feedback it inspires, Anne hopes it ultimately inspire people of all ages to follow the quote she’s currently writing on her chalkboard: “Do your thing and don’t care if they like it.”

“You don’t stop playing because you get old. You get old because you stop playing,” Anne says with a smile, before dressing up as a character from Game of Thrones and sitting on the chair in her front yard. “I don’t ever plan on growing old.”