A word from the wise regarding Halloween

I’ve already had three people ask me what Graham is going to be for Halloween. Do these people know it’s still considered summer until September 22nd? Do they know 90 degree weather is still in the forecast? Do they know Halloween is still over six weeks away?

Nothing irritates me more than Back-to-School sales in June, the Halloween craze in August, and Christmas decorations in October. Why are we thinking about dressing our little ones up in warm furry outfits when we can be thinking about apple picking and enjoying the late summer breeze on the greenway? Why can’t we celebrate the moment in the moment? Why? Because if you don’t think about it now, it will be too late.

Last year, I held steadfast to my belief that I wasn’t going to worry about what my little guy was going to be for Halloween, until, well, Halloween. My mistake. One week before Halloween arrived, I decided to go into Target and select a costume. To my shock and dismay, the Halloween aisle had been replaced with Christmas trees and wrapping paper. Yep, the Halloween chotchkies were all on clearance, the costumes picked over. I frantically searched through the 4T and 5T pink taffeta princess gowns and the random teenage mutant ninja turtle outfits to find something suitable for my 18 month old boy. I finally found a cute duck outfit that worked, although it was more than I wanted to pay and a few sizes to big. There was no being picky. I had to take what was there. And I was disappointed.

Not this year. This year, I’m ordering my child’s outfit in the summer. It will be affordable, in his size, and of my choosing. My advice? The advice I didn’t heed last year, but have adopted with all sincerity this year? Run. Yes, run to Target or to your computer and order your child’s Halloween outfit. Today. There will be no “sale.” If there is, it won’t be for what you want and in your child’s size. Suck it up and join the eager beaver parents out there who have mapped out there childrens’ Halloween costumes for the next five years. And then, when they ask you what your kid plans to be for Halloween, you can answer with 100% conviction that your kid will be an octopus, thank you very much. And, a darn cute one at that!