Rapunzel costume | The Sadder But Wiser Girl

And so it begins…

Target put out the Halloween stuff. I suppose they are allowed since it is the middle of September. I’m sure Christmas stuff will be out in a couple of weeks. There should be a rule: NO Christmas stuff until after Halloween is over. They never listen to me.

Anyhoo… Both children have already told me what their Halloween costume is going to be. The Professor has known what his is for quite awhile. He wants to be Iron Man. He and Evil Genius have been drawing up plans for this fancy costume. I can’t really say anything-the kid has chosen the same two costumes for most of his life. He has been Jeff Gordon every year since he was two. One year he alternated being a football player with the Jeff Gordon costume for two different events. I figure we have spent less than $30 on him in costumes his entire life. That’s ok. Now I hope he isn’t disappointed if his dad doesn’t get around to making this costume. I know it happens, I’ve seen him do it. The Princess has had homemade costumes and borrowed costumes for the last few years-a fairy princess and a sparkly witch. We’ve gotten off rather cheaply, which is a good thing.

Target happens to have an Iron Man costume in his size for only TEN DOLLARS. I picked it up and eyed it, and cautiously put it in the cart. I was thinking that we could produce it if the other one doesn’t ever get out of the planning stages. A back up. But I forgot who was with me.

“MOMMY YOU’RE GETTING MY BROTHER AN IRON MAN COSTUME! I WANT A COSTUME!!!!” Sigh… Yes I was shopping with Princess Gimme.

She has changed her mind about seventeen times already about what she wants to be for Halloween. Most of that occurred today while we were at Target. Originally she told me that she was just going to wear her Cinderella dress up outfit for Halloween. I was all over that. My aunt, who is in love with all things Disney, brought it to her a long time ago and she wears it quite often.

Then, the other day she announced that she wanted to be a kitty for Halloween. I was similarly happy about this. All black, I could make ears and a tail no problem, and draw on whiskers with eyeliner (wait… I don’t wear eyeliner). We could even make a sparkly collar for her. Oh this would be GREAT!

Then we went to Target today. After her loud outburst about the Iron Man costume, she started in. “Mommy look, there’s a Captain America costume. I want to be Captain America for Halloween.” I secretly smiled about that one. “We’ll see.” I told her. She pouted. We went around the corner, and there was a whole aisle of costumes. “OH Mommy, there’s a Tangled dress. I want to be Tangled for Halloween! I love the dress, it’s PURPLE…” “I thought you wanted to be Captain America?” I asked. “Oh no, now I want to be Tangled.”

Two minutes later she spies a display of costume parts on an end of an aisle. There were lots of different choices, including a set of ears, whiskers, tail, and bow tie for a black cat. Only $5. I could so do that… She spied them “Ok, now I think I want to be a black cat again.” Uh-huh. I picked them up and put them in the cart. Then she says “I changed my mind, I see stuff for a bee. I want to be a bee.” Then “I want to be a doggy.” Then “I want to be a princess.” And on and on and on…

I go back around the Halloween section and put the cat stuff back, and walk away as fast as I can. I wasn’t so sure I should be investing ANY money into her costume choices right now, since she can’t decide. She whines and pouts. As we are coming into the beverage section, I see that my giant bottle of Sutter Home has been marked up almost THREE dollars. Nooooo! Maybe I should do without then.

Just then she says “How come you’re getting MY BROTHER a costume and not me?” I snap “Because he made a decision!” I pick up a small bottle of Sutter Home and set it in the cart. I may need this after all… Then I return to the costume section, and put the Iron Man costume back. There was no way I was going to get it home discreetly, she was going to blab to her brother.

Perhaps I can make her a Princess cat dog with wings superhero costume, maybe that will make her happy. Nah, she’ll just pick something altogether different at the last minute.