I'm a Sucker for Halloween

When I was a kid, deciding what I wanted to be for Halloween was usually reduced to me finding miscellaneous clothes around the house or hand-me-down costumes from older siblings, and then getting creative and constucting a costume to be a princess or a fairy, or my favorite, Santa Claus.  (That costume kept me super warm in the frigid Utah temps on Halloween!)  I really don't remember ever going out and buying a costume, and it wasn't something I felt bad about, it just wasn't expected, so I made do.

But now, as a parent, and being responsible for getting my kids Halloween costumes...it's a big deal nowadays.  Cade has been insisting that he wanted to be a ninja, so I went to Target, spent 19 bucks, and got a fairly decent costume - yeah, it was a bit over-done and mainstream, but whatever.  He was happy so I was happy, though I secretly wished he had picked something cooler to be.  Ninjas aren't my thang, I suppose.

But then on Thursday, we went to a Halloween party.  And Cade's cousin, C, who is his age, was wearing this WICKEDLY AWESOME SCHWING Harry Potter costume.  I was jealous.  Yes, I'm 27, and yes I'm Responsible and Sensible and Grown Up, but I still coveted that wand and cloak. Expelliarmus!   He sure looked dashing in those Gryffindor Red and Gold colors...  If the cloak wouldn't have looked like a mini-dress on me, I might have considered stealing it from him.  I'm not above theft when it comes to fantasy icons.

Cade saw it, and I could tell he was jealous too.  He LOVES Harry Potter.  I was actually kind of wondering why he had wanted to be a ninja over HP, but I let him decide, he IS 5, after all, and picking your Halloween costume is his right now, after all his previous years when I squeezed him into adorable costumes that he HATED, but only because he was too young and had no choice.   (See him pictured here, at 1 years old, in this duckie costume.  He was smiling for the pic, but managed to scream the rest of the time while wearing it.  It was adorable.  And, later, as Elmo, he couldn't even stop crying long enough for me to take a picture to remember this (clearly) fun moment.  Also.  Thomas the Train didn't invoke a lot of enthusiasm, either.)

So yesterday, Cade told me he wanted to be Harry Potter for Halloween, and NOT a ninja.  Now, I had already wasted 19 bucks (plus tax!) on a crappy Halloween costume, and I realllllly didn't have the money to buy him ANOTHER Halloween costume, and I thought about telling him "Sorry kid, wait until next year, and choose more wisely next time..." but then I thought about the wand.  The wand, guys, it was so cool!  And the cloak!  Who doesn't want an awesome cloak?!

So I caved.  I whisked him away and we had to go to a few Halloween stores before we found the last (literally, the last) Harry Potter costume in his size in SL County, I swear.  I snatched it up before some other nerdy 5 year old could, and I happily spent the 30 bucks to make my kid happy.  (And me too, honestly, c'mon.)

He looks so freaking cool in it.  I'm seriously jealous.  Pictures to come, of course.

And don't even get me started on getting Mila a costume for Halloween...she's too little to fit in even the smallest costumes they make.  So, I have declared that Mila is going to dress up as Really Cute for Halloween.  (Not a stretch for her.)  You'll DIE when you see her outfit.  I can't wait to show you!

Conclusion:  Halloween is stressful and expensive for parents.  My goal is to this year just get ONE (it's all I ask!) photo of my kid happy in his costume.
(But the cloak!)