Despite the fact that it’s approximately 92 degrees here, it’s officially fall. I love fall, just like the rest of the planet. Great weather, great sports, and of course, Halloween. Although, it’s basically been Halloween prep time around here since JULY, because that’s when we got the first Halloween catalogue in the mail.
I’ve said it before but it bears repeating: STOP JUMPING THE GUN ON THE FREAKING HOLIDAYS. I live for Halloween. It’s my jam. But in July? No. JUST NO. In my house, we celebrate the holidays as they come, not months and months in advance. For one, I would like to enjoy the summer when it is still summer. Also, I would like to bask in the gloriousness that is back-to-school. And third is a whole new problem that makes me SCREAM and that is when the Halloween catalogues come in JULY, Annabel has entirely too long to think about her costume.
At first you might think, “Oh, well, if the costume catalogues come in July, Annabel can pick her costume early and you can order it and be on the ball for once in your life.” FALSE. Because the longer Annabel has to consider a costume, the longer Annabel has to change her mind. Which she has done. FIVE TIMES ALREADY. Some places don’t accept returns on Halloween costumes. Ask me how I know. (I only made that mistake once. Okay, twice.)
I love that Annie is as into Halloween as I am. And I know how hard it can be to narrow down your costume choices when you’re a kid. And yet, I am the meanest mom in the world because I can’t figure out a way to buy a Smurfette/Super Hero/Dog hybrid. Don’t even suggest that I make it because that is unacceptable to her. Plus, even if I made it for her, she would change her mind.
At this rate, she’s not going to decide what she wants to be until about…oh, five minutes before trick-or-treating starts. So I hope she decides to be something we already have (or something I already bought, grumble) because otherwise, this indecisive girl is going to be out of luck.
Randi says:
We have a rule at our house, and it has worked since my older son was Annie’s age. You can change your mind as often as you want, but once we buy the costume, that is it, your decision is final. When he was younger, we would take him to the Halloween stores in our area at the beginning of October so they still had a decent selection, but it was close enough to Halloween. Now that he is 8, I can buy his costumes in September when I get discount coupons for shopping early. Hope that helps!
Jess says:
My Sophia, the last two Halloweens, has changed her mind ON HALLOWEEN NIGHT. Now, each time she decided she wanted to wear a princess dress that we already had in her huge collection of dress up stuff. So it was sort of fine. But still. Why did I have to hunt around for the perfect T-Rex costume , that was the right amount of T-Rex but still a little bit girly (which she looked adorable in by the way), if you’re not even gonna wear it when we go trick-or-treating?!
Lanie says:
We have the changing costumes problem in our house too. The twins have literally changed their mind between the day time Halloween activity and trick-or-treating.
A few things over the years that I have tried to do to make it easier on all of us:
1. Hide the Halloween catalogs until at least October.
2. Let them pick out 1 new costume for the year.
3. Allow costume changes into any already owned costumes.
So far we have still had meltdowns but I will let you know how this year goes. Good luck to us all :-)!!
Tommie says:
My girls are ten and six. They usually pick their Halloween costume ideas on November 1st for the following year. This year, though, my six year old first declared she was going to be a lady bug.
But when her sister decided to be a cheerleader who has recently been turned into a vampire, the six year old started thinking…
And she came up with: Cheerleading vampiric inspector. She’s going to wear a cheerleading costume, vampire make-up and carry a magnifying glass. Yes. Yes she is.
And she’s decided (for both herself and her sister) that her vampire make-up will include a drop of blood running from the corner of her mouth and her sister will have fang marks on her neck, which will indicate that the younger of the two bit the older and turned her into a vampire right before the big game. So…it only gets better as they get older, I guess is what I’m saying.
Heather says:
Oh my gosh, your kids are AMAZING!
Paula says:
HAHA! Your kids imagination is great! Love it.
Katrina says:
I try to be the first to the mailbox each day just so I can grab those darn Halloween catalogs before my kids get a hold of them! You are right- they come WAY too early!
Carla says:
I consider myself lucky. My 6 yr old wants to be a black cat- easy enough. Especially since this will be her third yr in a row where she is going to be a black cat. Maybe she has no imagination except she loves to play dress up on every night of the year except Halloween. She only wants to be a cat- and only a black cat at that!
Julie says:
Well since you are such a Halloween’er, you’ll love that I am getting married next year 10/31/14 in a Hallowedding! We’re having a big costume party with vows!
And the year after we’ll celebrate our Anniver-scary. Bwahahahaha
You should see my Pinterest board. It’s ridiculous. How will I ever narrow down the options for a Halloween wedding?!?!?! I may need your help!
Heather says:
Oh my gosh. You are going to have the BEST WEDDING EVER!!!
Julie says:
It’s going to be great, our venue is an old church that someone renovated for things like this, so the wedding/reception room is surrounded by stained glass windows (uplit from outside of course), and it’s just going to be the coolest thing. We’re having a fortune teller and a magician and a photo booth. Michael and I are dressing in steampunk wedding attire for the first hour or so until the ceremony, then we will don more traditional wedding clothes (although my dress will probably be black and purple, nowhere near white!). I guess our “costume” at that point are the bride and groom cake topper. haha Maybe we need a pedestal to pose on?
Sarah says:
To go with what Julie said about you being such a Halloween’er, my daughter was born on Halloween in 2011, so I pretty much have Halloween on the brain all the time and can’t really stop planning! You’re lucky you get a break in between!
Anna says:
I am so with you on the early holiday merchandise. It drives me nuts! I was in Michael’s earlier today looking at Halloween stuff and I turned down the next aisle and was suddenly in the Christmas section. And what’s worse is that it has already been there for a month or two!
I am dying to buy more Halloween decorations, but we are moving next week and there’s no point in me getting stuff just to pack it up. But I’m going on a spree as soon as we get settled in the new house!
stephanie says:
this is unrelated to this post BUT….i just got very excited when reading another favorite blog because i realized THIS was your brother!!!!
http://www.amateurgourmet.com/2013/09/the-clean-plate-club-episode-9-whitney-adams-kyle-buchanan.html
Paula says:
I love Halloween. I love that I am a late October person who can throw a birthday Halloween party!
noelle says:
My daughter is the opposite. She picks her costume MONTHS in advance and totally sticks to it. She’s been like this since she was two and a half! This year she decided in February that she wanted to be a Shopaholic (IDK where she comes up with this stuff, lol) for Halloween, lol, she picked out her outfit in March and still hasn’t wavered, even when the Wishcraft catalog came this week. When she was four, she was a black glamour Kitty with a huge tutu with a tail, and decided WHILE SHE WAS TRICK OR TREATING that next year she was going to be a white Kitty. And she was!
Savanah says:
You may want to consider letting Annabel know that whatever she chooses will be her final option. This will help her make decisions in the future without being plagued with regret afterwards. Also, it will allow her to make her decisions with finality, instead of just choosing something now knowing that mommy and daddy will allow me to change my mind later if I don’t like. Remember, it’s just a holiday and a costume.