Costume Ideas Needed

Life has been a little bit crazy around here lately.  What with a dog that on some days is on death's door and other days she is friskier than she was 12 years ago, crazy parents to deal with at Parent/Teacher conferences, and a birthday...who has time to blog?!

There are certainly some interesting parts to my job, but have you ever considered the unique problems that a teacher faces on a day to day basis?  Take, for example, today.  Today I had to administer computerized assessments, help a diabetic student in an emergency, listen to a girl tell me about starting her period, figure out what to do because someone stole the chips to the Plinko board I will need tomorrow (solution?  Modeling clay in Mason Jar lids!), explain the purpose of chamber pots, and play Dodge Ball (if you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball!).  And that was all in the two hours after lunch!

One of the most baffling parts of my job is to have to dress up for spirit weeks.  It's fun.  I mean, I'm not complaining.  I get to wear pajamas to work on some days (even though on those days I live in fear that my car will break down on the side of the road and someone will find me wearing footie pajamas).  Today I found out that next week I have to dress up using the following descriptors:

1)  Dress up as a hero from history
2)  Dress up as an every day hero
3)  Dress up as a Tiger hero (mascot)
4)  Dress up as a future hero (what you want to be)
5)  Dress up as a hero from a book 

These are hard!  I have no idea what to do.  What happened to simple "Hat Day" or "Pajama Day?"  I need your help.  These are some of my thoughts/ideas:

1)  Hero from history...hmmm.  I'd prefer to be a woman for this, but on my commute home all I could think about were famous black heroes, and I'm not even remotely close to that.  I thought about dressing up as Mary Kay, or as Julia Child.  I have tons of old heroes from history such as Anne Hutchinson or Clara Barton, but I don't really have the clothing to dress up in an old fashioned style.  Then I googled some famous women.

Mary Anderson, inventor of the windshield wiper.  I look just like her, by the way.  If only I could find the hat.

Josephine Cochran, inventor of the dishwasher.  Does this picture not scream "If you leave those dirty dishes in the sink one more time, I will beat you with a fork!"

 Ruth Wakefield, inventor of the chocolate chip cookie.  God bless you, Ruth.

So, I need your help with this one.  What would be a good, "out of the box" kind of idea for a hero from history costume?  Keep in mind I am a poor teacher, and not willing to put that much effort into it.

2)  Every day hero.  Surprisingly, this is really hard for me.  Everyone is going to be dressed up as a doctor, nurse, police officer, fire fighter, etc.  I want something creative!  I have totally drawn a blank on this one.

3)  Dress up as a Tiger hero (mascot).  This one is easy.  I am going to dress up as one of the janitors in my school.  I just need a flannel shirt, ball cap, and a mug of coffee.  I also have to yell "Mornin', Debbie!" all day long because my janitor is hard of hearing and yells so loud that I think my aunt in California can here him if she really strains.  And also, he calls me the wrong name and he does it in front of my students.  

4)  Dress up as a future hero.  I want to be a wife and a mother.  Duh.  So that will be easy.

5)  A hero from a book.  HELP ME.  I don't know what to be!  I'm too feminine to be this hero:

(Plus, you know, I like to shower, get haircuts, pluck my eyebrows and I don't wear pink lipstick)

I've got nothing!  All ideas appreciated!