Dog Days of October

Jeremy and I love Halloween. We love decorating, we love dressing up, we love candy. (Well, maybe I love candy enough for both of us.)

We especially love homemade costumes. We stand in opposition to store-bought costumes. (Not in small part because all of the adult female costumes are variations on a slutty theme. But I digress.)

Chelsea announced last November 1st that she would be Thomas the Tank Engine this Halloween. And after a year of dreaming about the costume I would make for her, I broke down and bought her a store-bought version a few weeks ago.

With Chelsea squared away, I turned my attention to Savannah. We saw an adorable bumblebee costume at Gymboree and I had an attack of "I can make that!"

Later at home, I said to Savannah: "Mommy is going to make you a bumblebee costume! Won't that be cute? Do you want to be a bumblebee for Halloween?"

And she said, "Daw!"

Translation: "Dog!"

Me: "You want to be a dog for Halloween?"

Her: (big smile) "Yeah, yeah!"

Me: (to myself, in my head) YOU ARE TOO LITTLE TO EVEN KNOW WHAT HALLOWEEN IS! HOW DARE YOU ROB ME OF MY ADORABLE BUMBLEBEE!

So I decided to make a dog costume. I figured, I'll buy a white sweat suit, slap some black spots on it, throw some ears on the head and I'll have a cute little dalmatian. I mean, how hard can it be?

Surprisingly hard.

There must be a plain white sweatsuit at Target, right? No. There is one covered in sparkles and glitter. There should be one at Walmart, yes? No. There is one covered in rainbows and unicorns. Ditto for Kohl's, Old Navy, and anywhere else you might think to look for a plain white sweatsuit.

Next thing I know, we're in the costume aisle at Target. There are 3 dog costumes. A Saint Bernard, complete with a mini-cask of booze around the neck, which she (thank goodness) declined. A giant Scooby Doo costume, which she also declined and wouldn't have fit her anyway. And a $49.95 Pokey Little Puppy number which she also declined, with gratitude from my bank account.

Next stop, Halloween Superstore in an old empty Linens n Things, Best Buy, or Mervyn's. We find a perfectly cute, generic brown dog, in her size for less than the price of a dinner for four. She refuses! Now what!?

Can't make homemade, can't agree on store-bought, I finally decide I'm just going to dress her up as a bumblebee, and she's going to like it, dammit!

We go to Walmart to pick up some bumblebee supplies: yellow and black tulle (because bumblebees wear tutus, didn't you know?), yellow ribbon, elastic. On our way to the check-out, we detour through the Halloween section.

And find a cheap, toddler-size, Scooby Doo costume. Which Chelsea hands Savannah and Savannah promptly hugs and loves.

We bring it home for the moment of truth: will she actually wear it? We get the little body suit on, and the last part is a soft, hood-like dog head that straps under the chin with velcro.

This is a kid who pulls off every hat and yanks hair bows and barrettes right out. There is no way she's going to wear a velcroed-on dog face strapped to her head.

But she does.

And the pure joy on her face when I take her to the mirror to look at herself is priceless.

So now both of my precious angels will be wearing store-bought costumes this year. And my sweet bumblebee dreams have been dashed.

But, is this not the cutest little Scooby Doo you've ever seen?

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