Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, but it sure seems to be more complicated now than when I was a kid. My mom sewed a few of our costumes, but my siblings and I often scrounged costumes from around the house. A bandana, lots of mom’s makeup and jewelry, plus a few scarves and you had a gypsy. Remember the hobo costume? Old clothes, a bandana tied into a bundle and carried on the end of a stick, some of mom’s eyeliner to draw stubble on the chin and it was done. But these days, hobos are called homeless people, and it probably wouldn’t be politically correct to dress up as one.
Vampires were kids with an old towel or length of black fabric for a cape and wax teeth from the candy store. Charlie Brown and his friends cut eyeholes in sheets and went as ghosts, but I sure wouldn’t let my kids at the linens with a pair of scissors. Sheets are too expensive.
Halloween is second only to Christmas in the amount of money spent by Americans for costumes, decorations and candy. I recently looked at a catalog of kids’ Halloween costumes, and some cost over $50. For something that will be worn once and probably get smeared with chocolate, that’s a lot of money.
There are ways to keep it simple and inexpensive while still giving the kids a fun evening. If you’re buying, try the consignment shops, thrift stores or eBay. You can often find brand-name costumes for much less. Or create a costume from inexpensive items. For example, a princess costume for your little girl with a fancy dress from a thrift shop and a tiara, scepter and feather boa from a dollar store. Your son could be “the Hulk” in ripped up thrift store clothes plus green face paint and green spray-on hair color.
If you sew, there are lots of great costume patterns. Or, amazing things can be done with a glue gun and iron-on seam tape, as I discovered one year when my oldest wanted to go as a praying mantis. (Try to find a store-bought costume for that!) An Internet search for homemade costumes will yield lots of ideas. One online magazine, Familyfun.com, has over 100 costumes you can make yourself.
Once you’re past the costume dilemma, then there is the candy. My children turn into what we call “candy monsters” around our house after Halloween. Even when we try to hide the stuff and dole it out a little at a time, it is enough to drive any parent out of their gourd.
My solution is to get rid of some of it as soon as possible. Dentists Danny and Joel Rude of Maple Valley (425-432-1292) buy candy from kids after Halloween. They pay kids $2 per pound and then match that amount in a contribution to Children’s Hospital. My kids have done this for several years, and they enjoy “selling” half of their candy for a good cause.
Or try a trade: Part of the candy for a toy or other reward. But whatever you do to decrease your kid’s sugar consumption, let them keep some of it. After all, the candy haul is half the fun.
Some families are opting out of trick-or-treat entirely. My old neighborhood once had a Halloween party in which there was a chili cookoff for the adults and costume contest for the kids. The kids still got treats and the adults got in some socializing. Other options: Check out malls and pumpkin patches. Some have kid friendly Halloween activities. Many churches also have parties that are open to non-members. Indoor parties are a great alternative, especially if the weather is cold and wet.
Halloween is about pretending to be someone else for one night, whether that is a superhero, a favorite animal or TV character. Parents don’t have to spend a lot or stay up all night sewing the perfect costume, because it’s all about imagination. A 5-year-old boy feels just as much like Superman whether he’s wearing PJs with a towel safety-pinned to his shoulders or a full-body, battery-operated costume.
Tiffany Doerr Guerzon, a homemaker and freelance writer, lives in Maple Valley. She can be reached at homespun@reporternewspapers.com
