It’s not the candy. It’s not the creepy decorations (though I absolutely abhor the fake hand “planted” in someone’s flower bed…yuck!). It’s not the spider webs or the zombies or piles of chocolate–because yum!
It’s the costumes.
Seriously, very little in all of motherhood terrifies me like the thought of putting 4 kids with opinions into costumes for trick-or-treat. I mean, when they were little, it was easy. Give my mother-in-law a pattern and an idea and wait a month. Voila! Cute kids in adorable costumes.
Now, though, they care. They have ideas. And I don’t have the creativity, much less skills, to pull off what they have in mind. Last year, I actually tried. I worked all day on a costume someone said they wanted…only to have them turn up their nose after school which left me rushing around trying to help them throw together some other costume. It was frustrating and not.at.all.fun.
And I just want it to be fun. I remember pulling together random costumes from stuff in our house and for one day, just having fun dressing up. Maybe my mom remembers it differently, I don’t know. But the expense and expectations of Halloween costumes is just more than I can handle.
So this year, I sent my kids straight to my MIL. Except for Tim, whose costume I found at a kids consignment sale, they all worked with her. She took their ideas and, I’m telling you, they turned out so much better than I could have done. To top it off, Eric actually stepped up on the final details. He did the attaching and gluing and wiring pieces together. And they all worked (which is totally not what happens when I do it!)
So tonight, all I have to do is put my kids in said costumes, take some pics, and bundle up to enjoy watching them trick-or-treat. And for the first time in a handful of years, I’m actually looking forward to it.
Happy Halloween!
