Thank Heaven for Little Girls

I knew what time of year it was - the weather was getting cooler, the candy apples are on sale at the grocery store, two aisles are dedicated to super value packs of candy, and pumpkins are on display... That means Halloween.

We go to a church carnival for the event, often referred to as a "Fall Family Festival". I like this approach much better than the door to door trek through the neighborhood I had growing up. For one thing I don't know the people three houses down from me in either direction and something seems hypocritical to me about telling Will not to take things from strangers and then sending him out there deliberately to get candy from strangers. Another benefit of the Family Festival is that instead of one of us being stuck at home passing out candy while the other parent journeys on the street with the boy, we can both share in this event - and there's still candy involved. Plus, this way I get to sit in a parking lot with Karen and talk to an adult while passing out candy to kids. Heaven.

The dread was in the costume. Since this is an event at church there are several characters we can't send our kid as. And then there's the added complication of either buying something (overpriced) or trying to make something within my sewing ability. The thing I've got going for me is that it's dark out at these festivals, so no one can see too much of the detail in my sewing. But here's what Wilson has said he wanted to be for Halloween:

1. Batman
2. Power Ranger
3. A host of other characters that, while not violent, were not "church-worthy"

This is the pain of having a son and not being a boy yourself. There are a great deal of things I think are adorable, but after age 2 it's just wrong of a mom to dress her son to make him "adorable" in public. I prayed very, very hard for a solution. And she came to me...

Maria, Wilson's older girl friend, wants to be Tinkerbell for Halloween. Thank God. Every Tinkerbell needs a Peter Pan and that counts in all of my costume requirements - easy to make, adorable and non-humiliating, AND Peter Pan has a sword so the boy is happy. I owe Maria. Big time.