Moore Tales of Motherhood-The Great Costume Challenge

Halloween is my favorite holiday. I love hay rides and corn mazes, carving pumpkins, and decorating with my children. My little ones love it too. They are obsessed with all things Halloween. They even enjoy the scarier elements and like going to those pop-up Halloween meccas which they refer to as the “spooky store”. The best part of course is trick-or-treating. It is the one day of the year where they are allowed to take candy from strangers and gorge themselves on chocolate eyeballs and vampire fang gummies.

What I don’t love about Halloween this year is costume shopping for my incredibly picky daughter. I understand her issue. My little lady is the perfect combination of tomboy and tiara, sass and sweetness. She spends most of her time playing with her two brothers. The one time she was given a doll the doll’s head ended up on a stick. I am not exactly sure what game she was playing but she proved her point. She is not a doll kind of girl. You can see where costume shopping might be a bit of a challenge.

Halloween costumes have improved slightly in recent years. Somewhere along the way manufacturers recognized that not all little girls want to be a Disney princess and would prefer to be something that includes a little less ruffle and a lot less pink.  My daughter has outgrown the toddler-sized options which included adorable animals and cute cartoon characters. Costumes for the non-toddler set are not nearly as sweet. You can shell out big bucks for elaborate creations that are slightly more interesting and appealing but spending eighty dollars on a Halloween costume is not in our budget. Unfortunately, most of the affordable costumes that exist could be categorized as being inappropriate, ridiculous, or downright disturbing.

There are the superhero girl options that come complete with leotard, skirt, cape, and thigh high boot covers. These are in endless supply with each male character having his own girl version. The only problem is that the costumes barely cover my daughter’s backside and they are not fall weather friendly. Fighting crime in a bustier, skirt, and high-heel boots seems impractical and inappropriate for a five year old. I have a feeling my daughter recognizes this, she much prefers to wear her brother’s costumes.

There are still cartoon character options but they are not the soft and cuddly ones from her baby days. I know we live in the South where tulle and tutus are wardrobe staples but my child is not buying it. Function over fashion is her motto. Boys definitely get the better end of the deal here. The “boy” costumes are padded one-zip wonders and usually come with a great mask or fierce and fabulous accessory. I think my little lady feels shafted.

Then there are the vampy, trampy or just plain ridiculous costumes for every imaginary being ever created. These costumes also usually include a ruffled skirt, a bizarrely short dress, a strange bodysuit or a combination of a few of these elements. I get it, these too are pretty unappealing.

There were a few options that I thought were great. I managed to find a girl Ninja, a girl werewolf, a witch with a light-up skirt, even a spooky girl skeleton but my daughter turned them all down. I warned you she was challenging.

I hope that between now and Halloween our trips to the “spooky store” will yield a selection that’s not too pink, too scary, too short, or too uncomfortable.  In the meantime I plan to put on my DIY cap. This seems like a problem a glue gun, cardboard, scrap fabric, and a trip to Lowes might be able to solve.  Readers, what are your children being for Halloween? It seems impossible but do I have any fellow mamas out there also having trouble finding costumes? Diy suggestions? My daughter and my glue gun are waiting.