Every year Halloween creeps up on me like poison Ivy. The month usually starts off with a conversation that would go something like this. “What are you going to be this year?” My 6-year-old daughter would reply, “A princess” I’d say, “Again?” But not the same princess as last year or the year before that, oh no, a whole new thirty dollar costume of coarse and times that by three, the two older ones like costumes that are just more morbid like dead cheerleaders and masks that bleed. Now I’m all for fun and Halloween but in between the department stores and searching through the disheveled isles of costumes that never seem to have the right size or are always missing a piece or two and then after spending two hours trying on costumes and pleading with her that maybe it would be better if she was a “pirate” this year, we end up leaving teary eyed and empty handed. I am now forced to go to the specialty costume store; you know the ones, where a bumblebee headband is $25 dollars. Of coarse they have the perfect princess costume, just like the one in the Disney store, I’m thinking to myself, I wish I could be one of those moms who sews all her own costumes but I still have nightmares about bobbins and sewing machines from high school. As I fork out the cash and everyone is happy again, I get home exhausted and drowning myself in mini Halloween chocolate bars.
The morning of the big day, I become the wardrobe lady and makeup artist extraordinaire, making sure everyone is well put together or knows how to put it together when it comes time for the big parade. This year will be my 10th Halloween parade and as I wait anxiously with camera in hand, all the frustration of getting ready for this day is magically forgotten, like the pain of childbirth. Ha! I have two of them left in the parade now and as they come around the corner grinning from ear to ear and perk up when they see me I am reminded of how fleeting motherhood is and I am so grateful for every moment. Happy Halloween Everybody!
