Back in the late 1970s, my parents were experts at transforming me on Halloween night into the various versions of a witch that I repeatedly portrayed.
We had an old black dress that got repeated use, and I was born with a mane that makes fantastic witch hair. My mother would tease it up really big, add some hairspray and baby powder, and Pam the witch was back and ready to hit the candy trail.
I haven’t done nearly the job my parents did as far as coming up with creative Halloween costumes for my sons. Usually, at least part of each costume ends up coming from Wal-Mart or one of those Halloween stores that appears in September and closes November first.
Instead of blaming myself, I’ve decided the fact that I have three boys makes it harder to play the scary dress-up game once a year. They don’t have much hair to fiddle with, and none of them is willing to let me cover his face in make-up … not that I’m complaining.
Out of all the costumes purchased over the years, we have gotten the most use out of the smiling Scream mask Tommy wore in kindergarten. Unlike his bloody Scream mask (It came with a squirt bottle of red goo.), this one has a smiling orange face and is school-friendly.
That means if your kids happen to attend a school that has a Halloween parade, the smiling Scream mask can be worn because it won’t frighten the younger kids.
The smiling Scream mask has appeared in school parades on the east and west coasts and is still waiting in our Halloween box in case one of the boys needs a last-minute costume this year.
Our Halloween box also contains the Joe Dirt wig that won Ronnie the best costume contest at his Cub Scout party two years ago.
I’m not sure what it says about me as a parent, but I was able to transform my youngest child into such a little redneck that nobody at the party could figure out who was really underneath that wig!
Some of the boys’ costumes lasted about at long as the candy that came home on Halloween night. For example, the Buzz Lightyear costume with inflatable wings never made it to the Halloween box.
The most photographed costumes my boys have worn were the tiny pumpkin outfits they donned as babies. I smile every time I think of their little baby faces surrounded by orange and green.
However, the one costume that brings back the warmest memories was bright blue. Ronnie somehow convinced me to buy him a Blue’s Clues costume in the last week of August.
He was 3 years old at the time and saw no reason why he should wait until Halloween to put on his furry blue outfit. The warm San Diego weather did nothing to dissuade him.
For the next two months, Ronnie wore his Blue costume everywhere we went. The only time he took it off was to sleep, bathe and eat. Luckily, the costume was machine washable.
Ronnie finally took off the costume a couple of days before Halloween and announced he didn’t want to be Blue anymore. No amount of persuading would change his mind.
I can’t remember how Ron and I handled the situation, but I know we didn’t go out and buy a replacement costume. Perhaps Ronnie went trick-or-treating as "the boy having a temper tantrum."
Now that would be one scary monster to find at your door.
A mother of three boys, Pam Zich has been married to a Marine for 17 years and currently lives in Springfield, Va. You may e-mail her at homefront@stripes.osd.mil or visit her Web site at www.lifeonthehomefront.com.