I had high hopes for this Halloween, Oscar’s first. Having a baby has renewed my sense of excitement about the holidays; normally I am something of a scrooge. This Halloween I imagined finding the perfect costume for Oscar, getting a professional portrait done, carving a pumpkin, baking cookies, and drinking hot cider. Ha! Old habits die hard, and as usual, I waited until the last minute. Who knew that grocery stores actually run out of pumpkins?

I was disappointed in the selection of costumes for children. I imagined something like comfy pajamas with cute ears and tails. Instead, I found an array of cheap plastic crap. Most of costumes (even the ones labeled for 6-12 month infants) looked huge and ill-fitting. Even if they were the right size, I don’t think I would put that garbage on my son. I may change my mind when he’s five and begging to be Captain Jack Sparrow, but right now I have slightly higher standards. Unfortunately, high standards require time, and I ran out of that.

I finally decided to make his costume, but since I have neither a sewing machine nor sewing skills, this required some quick thinking and a little imagination. I finally had a eureka moment when I was standing in the middle of Target looking at miniature black sweat pants. A kitty! Black sweats, ears, whiskers. How hard could it be? So I bought the sweats and went to Michael’s for some black felt and black cardboard. Using an old headband, black and white felt, cardboard, and a stapler, I made his ears. Then Darin drew on his nose and whiskers using an eyeliner pencil.

Doesn’t Oscar make a cute kitty?

Finally, I dressed myself in black and made a hat using cardboard and tape. I added a broom I found at the Dollar Store and…

A witch and her familiar!

Oscar managed to stay in his costume for about half an hour, to the delight of our handful of trick-or-treaters. Then I put him to bed, put my feet up, and ate a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup.

It wasn’t quite the perfect Halloween I imagined, but there’s always next year!