Ask my 4-yearold daughter Ellie what she wants to be for Halloween and she ’ ll tell you a cat . Ask her the next day and she ’ ll tell you a witch . Wait a few more days and then ask her again . She ’ ll tell you a mermaid-catwitch . You get the idea . I ’ ve dealt with this costume conundrum for the past 10 years with all three of my kids . It ’ s been one of the most hilarious and expensive Halloweeninspired parenting battles I ’ ve experienced thus far .
As cute as it is to see my little girl change her mind about what she would like to be for Halloween , I ’ d like to celebrate this year ’ s holiday with minimal tears in the costume department . Tackle the aisles of Target and Walmart this month like a pro with these five simple tips .
1 ) Wait until the last minute .
Yep . Seriously . You might think this is a bad idea but unless your child is 100 % sure she knows what she wants to be for Halloween , just wait it out . We ’ ve all had those years , okay , maybe two , when our child goes through a Princess Sophia or Sheriff Callie stage . When that season of character obsession comes along , by all means … get the costume . But your child will some day move on to like a variety of characters and mythical creatures ( unicorns anyone ?) and every time I have been to the store right before Halloween , there has always been a costume my child will wear . I repeat , there has always been a costume my child will wear .
It may not be the exact costume she wanted , but since she couldn ’ t make
12 WNY Family October 2018
Tackling the Costume Conundrum
— by Meagan Ruffing
up her mind to begin with , she ’ s easily swayed into being the best Princess Leia around town .
2 ) Wear costumes that you already have at home .
Who doesn ’ t love a fun game of dress-up ? I know my kids do and we ’ ve had some of our best memories chasing each other throughout the house with me in a Ninja costume and my three kids piecing various bits of random costumes together . One time I saw Ellie come downstairs with a Spider-Man mask on her face , a cat costume on her body and she was riding a stick pony . I know you can relate .
Kids always want to wear their Halloween costumes before Halloween is actually here . To avoid telling my kids no in order to avoid spaghetti sauce stains on their new costumes , I let them wear the previous years ’ costumes whenever they want . Because let ’ s be real , we all know that in the month leading up to Halloween our kids become all “ incognito ” and dressing up is THE most important thing . Who am I to squash their playful imaginations ? I ’ ve actually awarded myself the title of best-mom-ever ( courtesy of my kids ) for keeping every single costume we ’ ve ever bought , so they can indulge in as much dressing up as their hearts desire at no additional cost to me .
3 ) Borrow your friends ’ costumes .
You know those character obsessions I talked about earlier ? If your son wants to be the Hulk this year , seek out the friend whose son has already gone through his Hulk season in life and ask her if you can borrow his costume . She might say no if her son is planning on being the Hulk again this year or if he ’ s super territorial about his costume . Chances are , she ’ ll think the idea of trading costumes is brilliant . Return the favor by offering up one of your son ’ s costumes and if you don ’ t have anything fun between the two of you , bring another friend into the mix .
4 ) Head to the resale stores .
These stores are your best friends and if you don ’ t know that by now , don ’ t worry , there ’ s still room for you . These are the stores you want to go to if your child changes her mind every day about what she wants to wear . You can buy three costumes , maybe even four , for the price of one brand-new costume , which