The Parents Yap About: Getting Ready For Halloween

By Melissa Schools, Regina Martine and Lisa Paglierani

When it comes to fun holidays, it’s hard to beat Halloween – although it tends to be a whole different ballgame once you’ve got kids. This week, the moms talk about all that goes into helping the kids get ready for Halloween and trick or treating.

Melissa Schools

Ah, Halloween. I won’t say I hate Halloween, but it’s definitely a holiday that I enjoyed more before I had kids of my own. Now, it kind of just feels like more work than fun- sort of like school projects. What’s a mother to do when she feels grinchy about a holiday or a task? In my world, scaling back works wonders for me. 

When my oldest child was my only child, I made him a sweet little panda costume out of fleece from a pattern on my sewing machine. He wore a little black makeup on his nose and around his eyes without so much as a fuss, and carried his little panda bear, Rosie, to complete the look. He was freakin’ adorable, and I was proud of my sewing job. 

It was the last costume I’ve ever made.

The good news is, each of our kids since has sported that panda costume by age two, and it has held up very well. A couple years ago, I stifled a laugh when I overheard the boys talk about costumes from the other room, rifling through the dress-up bin: “*sigh* I was the cowboy last year. You be the cowboy!”

The other stand-by costumes in the rotation are a chef, a fireman, Superman and a construction guy. Thanks to half-price day at consignment sales, and a tired-mommy weak moment last year when I shelled out cash for costumes, we’ve added a couple more superheroes, a phantom, a skeleton and a couple ninjas. 

I feel intermittently guilty about not getting more excited for Halloween and for not being more creative with Halloween snacks, food and costumes. One of these years, I should have them dress along one theme or something. I try not to stifle the kids’ creativity and try to support their ideas for costumes, but, as I told them one time when I was feeling especially non-invested in the Halloween hype, “Meh, does it really matter that much what you wear? You care most about the candy, and you’re going to get candy at each house, regardless of your costume, right?”

The child in question jammed his cowboy hat on his head, smiled and said, “I guess you’re right!” and off he went. Eye on the prize, my boy! Eye on the prize! (Now, go get me some Butter Fingers, Peanut Butter Cups and Starburst!)

Regina Martine

Didn’t school just start, like, last week? How is it Halloween already? Ready or not, Halloween is here and that means me spending quality time with my sewing machine and my hot glue gun, because somehow, my kids have come to believe that I can make any costume myself. In the past 12 years, I have made fairy costumes and witch costumes, knight costumes and cat costumes, pirates, wizards, Vikings, Pippi, Draco, Cleopatra, Effie, Hermione, and more. I consider myself to be a pretty creative person, but I am beginning to feel the same way about Halloween as I feel about kid birthday parties. They were great fun when the kids were little, but now I am just about ready to let my little Halloweenies  take over and make their own costumes

This year, all the pre-‘Ween prep has actually gone pretty smoothly. Everyone decided on costumes without too much drama or second-guessing. No one wanted anything that exceeded my crafting abilities. I even waited until last week to buy candy, so I only had to buy it once. (Truthfully, I should wait until about 5pm on Halloween to buy candy because if it is in the house, I will eat it.)

I have one child who is sad that she will be missing Trick- or treating because she will be on an overnight school trip, but I am hoping that it is a step toward the end of Halloween fun being my responsibility. I am glad they are all still (mostly) interested in Halloween fun. I want them to enjoy the fun parts of Halloween, but I am ready for them to take on more of the work of preparing for it. I’m glad they still want to trick-or-treat. I’m fine with them trick-or-treating all the way through high school. It’s better than egging houses and toilet papering trees.

For most kids, Halloween is the second awesomest holiday next to Christmas. Costumes! Parties! Candy candy candy!!!!!. I always feel like it is the beginning of the non-stop slippery slope of spending and eating that goes from mid-October through New Year’s. Actually, the sugar/spending season starts with Halloween and ends with Easter, with plenty of pies and cookies in between. On top of all that sugar, I have to start thinking about getting ready for Christmas. Then three kids birthdays in a row. Halloween always feels like the beginning of the crush of extra mommy responsibilities. Even with all my complaining, I still think they are growing up awfully fast.

Lisa Paglierani

Creativity is a quality I wish I had more of.  I don’t sew, and I am not particularly crafty, so I’m not one to produce a homemade Halloween costume.  I wish I could, though.  When I see a simple, yet brilliant idea - a yellow tutu becomes a lion’s mane, a laundry basket serves as the structural support for a cupcake costume - I am jealous.  Why couldn’t I have thought of that?  But I have made my peace with it:  until the Halloween comes when a bolt of inspiration strikes with an easy, cost-effective plan to create the costume of my child’s dreams, I’m content to be a store-bought costume family.

Fortunately, the over-the-counter costume options have significantly improved since my childhood, when the all-plastic costumes abounded.  You know, the ones with the plastic mask plus vinyl apron depicting the character you were supposed to be. I would always think, “Why would [insert character’s name] wear a picture of him/herself on an apron?”  One year, I wore the Casper version of this costume; my mother helped me use crayons to add pink rouge, blue eye shadow, and a bow on the mask because I was upset my character was a boy.  To be completely fair to my mother, though, she did know how to operate a sewing machine, and there were some years with adorable handmade costumes, including a leopard and a sweet little devil, rendered in white fabric because white devils are less evil, of course.

Because I don’t have an unlimited costume budget, I’m grateful for today’s affordable options.  Stores like Target, Marshall’s, and the seasonal Spirit Halloween all have decent selections in the $20 to $30 range, a figure I aim not to exceed.  We have also had luck on eBay and Craigslist.  My favorite costume purchase of all time was a big fuzzy raccoon, which we bought on eBay for $20 or so, and which has been worn by three of my kids for Halloween as well as countless hours of dress-up.  My children’s love of playing in their costumes year round makes buying new ones easier to swallow.

Fortunately, we’ve managed to buy only one brand new costume per year.  Between judicious use of hand-me-downs and children deciding to repeat costumes, it has just worked out that a different child receives the new costume each Halloween.  This year we are featuring a black cat (one brand-new pair of ears, my old fur-trimmed black sweater, and a tail we found in the costume bin); a vampiress (previously purchased hand-me-down); Ironman (this year’s new purchase, thank you BJs); and a tiny fairy (hand-me-down from a cousin). 

We love Halloween in our house, ranking it second only to Christmas.  The intoxicating combination of parties, dressing up, and free candy is the perfect distraction from the darkening days and increasing chill in the air.  I’m excited to see the variety of costumes, from the predictable to the wildly creative, on display at my kids’ school today and at my front door tonight.  Wishing you all an enjoyable trick-or-treat!