Costume

I won't buy the boys Halloween costumes.

Seriously - have you seen the prices on those things? They sell great looking costumes all over the place, but they're made so cheaply, and they each go for about $50. I have three kids. We've got years of costumes left to go. I'm not doing it.

So I either tell them they have to buy their own, or make them up from stuff we have. This is good. It teaches responsibility and gets them to use their imagination, get creative... Of course, some times I help them out. We got choir robes at GoodWill last year for the Harry Potter costumes. Yes, I had to pay for them, but they weren't that expensive, all told.

This year, Andy was going to be a skunk. I even bought him a black hoodie and small spray bottle so we could put the costume together. But we needed a white boa to complete it. I took some things to GoodWill, and while we were there we had a look... I found a boa for two dollars. I bought it. Of course, Andy found this Pokemon costume for seven dollars. And he suddenly didn't want to be a skunk anymore. I couldn't say no. He was so excited!

He wore the costume for the next three days. It already has yogurt all over the pokemon's forehead.