I love Halloween.  Besides the trick or treating and dressing up, it was my Grandmother’s birthday and is now my wedding anniversary. That’s love.

Of course, getting married on Halloween (then having a child) does complicate things. Unlike college where we did our own version of “trick or treating”, there’s a clear right of passage for kids to GO trick or treating – which turns out could put a damper on the anniversary celebration.

I never said I was a great planner when it comes to dates.

Anyway, so far, not an issue. In fact, for the past 3 years of marital bliss, my husband and I have either cheerfully gone out to a romantic dinner or even hopped on a plane to celebrate. Meanwhile Zoe’s enjoyed the many hand-me-down kids’ costumes we have on Halloween, most years dressing up in 3-5 different costumes for photos. But she hasn’t been trick or treating yet.

In addition to the anniversary hurdle, we also live in a very orthodox Jewish neighborhood, where Halloween isn’t so appreciated (quite the opposite). And that’s a long lead-in to say that THIS year, we’re headed to Hawaii for a family vacation with Zoe, my sister’s family and my mother. And there WILL be trick or treating.

As for the costume, we’ve made a tactical error…

(Helpful Tip: Don’t dress your kid up in 5 costumes every year and then expect her to just pick ONE when she’s old enough to go trick or treating)

First, she was excited to be Ariel. We bought the dress ($20), which she loved and wore to see The Little Mermaid for the first time, and the wig ($10), which she wore for 31 seconds and decided she didn’t want to wear. Then out of nowhere she started telling people she was going to be Diego.

Have you ever looked for a Diego costume?

(Helpful Tip: Look online before you take your daughter to a Halloween specialty store in October – oh and a blue t-shirt and beige vest should not cost $40)

Anyway, we DID take our daughter to a specialty store, where we found NO Diego costume – and without a wig, she looks nothing like Diego… She did pick up everything she could get her hands on, then changed her mind every time we thought she landed on something (baby jaguar! a unicorn! a witch!).

Then, while we were standing in the wig section, she decided that she MUST be Yasmin, a BRATZ character she has never seen but who was clearly way better than Diego, Mom… Guess what? They have no Yasmin costume. Just the wig for 35 bucks (it’s $15 online), but we know were that road leads.

So we searched the store for something similar, and finally, she walked by a costume for super sassy Clawdeen Wolf from Monster High, who she has also never seen, but she decided she MUST be her. I triple checked. ARE YOU SURE? Yes, mommy. So $45 later, Clawdeen came home with us.

Zoe was thrilled and had to put it on the second we got home – except for the wig but I swear I will get a picture of her in that wig – and for 10 glorious minutes I thought we were ready for Halloween…  until the skirt was “pokey”, and I was informed that Clawdeen did not wear a skirt – or pants.  And our “costume” became a $45 shirt.

I remain hopeful. Halloween hasn’t happened yet. Zoe is still saying she’s going to be Clawdeen. And I am 100% committed to getting a picture in complete costume and to the fact that Clawdeen WILL wear pants or a skirt or Clawdeen will not get to go trick or treating. Poor Clawdeen.

On the bright side, we did carve a pumpkin this year (well, Bart did). Happy (almost) Halloween!