Boo

I kind of hate Halloween, what with all the hyperactivity-inducing candy. But on the other hand, trick-or-treating is one of the few holiday traditions that we have kept up since our first son was old enough to show interest.

It's kind of fun. You get to meet a few neighbors, the kids learn social skills (albeit social skills that only apply one day out of the year: Knock knock. Hi, how are ya? Now give us some candy.)

This year it came down to the wire on costumes. Well, not for my 3-year-old daughter. As soon as she heard we were dressing up she decided to be a princess. That was easy. She dresses up as a princess every day. It was just a matter of which dress she would be wearing, and whether she would carry her new magic wand or not.

The boys have been wavering ever since early September. First they were going to be Sonic the Hedgehog characters. Luckily they changed their minds because I would have no idea how to make such a costume. They briefly considered various superheroes, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, NASCAR drivers, and football players. Finally my 5-year-old settled on a mummy, which I was so excited about because I could finally use all the toilet paper he and his little sister had unrolled and I had saved in a big plastic garbage bag because I couldn't bear to throw it away. The 7-year-old wanted to be Blinky, the red Pac-Man ghost.

I had the material, but I waited until Halloween day to get started, just in case he changed his mind at the last minute. Of all domestic skills, sewing is my second least favorite, right after ironing. I didn't want to waste any unnecessary sewing effort.

So around 3:00 p.m. there I was, shoddily stitching together the sides of a red cloth rectangle and cutting a zigzag pattern at the bottom. Cut the eye holes, attached some white eyeballs with fabric glue, and we were good to go.

As soon as my younger son saw his brother's costume, he changed his mind about the whole mummy thing and wanted to be Inky, the blue Pac-Man ghost. I was not surprised, and I was prepared. Out came the blue fabric and I threw together another costume.

There was a brief dramatic pause while I waited for my daughter to decide she wanted to be Pinky. I did not have any pink fabric.

Fortunately, she still wanted to be a princess.