Georgia has had some fantastical ideas for Halloween costumes since last Halloween, when she went as Jane Kangaroo from Horton Hears a Who. After last Halloween she quickly decided she would be a flower, and that together we would knit a flower glove for one arm and a stem glove for the other arm. It was a grand idea, which I loved, except for the fact that I don’t knit. I didn’t deter her; I figured if she still wanted to be a flower in June we’d deal with it then. These are the things some little kids think about all year, what kind of birthday cake they are going to have and what they will be for Halloween.

But the flower idea faded fast. She decided a princess. Then Princess Leia. Then Dorothy, then Harry Potter. Then, most recently, Wonder Woman. She even got a very realistic Wonder Woman costume for her birthday, but when another little girl wore an identical one to a superhero-themed birthday party, I think Georgia had a pang of, what? Reality? Not exactly. She hasn’t stopped playing Wonder Woman, she just realized that the costume didn’t make her "super." And when I assumed she was going as Wonder Woman for Halloween she said, “Mommy, I am NOT going to be Wonder Woman for Halloween.” But when I asked her what she was going to be she said, without hesitation, and to my surprise, “A ghost!”

“A ghost? What kind of ghost?” Since she’s a fan of the Harry Potter books I thought for sure we’d be in for the Tudor extravagance of Nearly Headless Nick, or something difficult and ultimately disappointing. But she said, “Do we have an old sheet? We can cut holes in it for eyes…”

A sheet with eye holes? We even had a white sheet that had just ripped. Was I really getting off this easy?

We measured it, I cut off the elastic, about which she excitedly declared “We can use the elastic to hold the sheet on my head!” “And maybe even to put around your wrists so you can hold your trick-or-treat pumpkin?” I ventured. “YES! Great idea!” she said. We cut the eyeholes, cut the bottom so it wouldn’t drag too much, and she was done. I couldn’t leave it alone, though. I just kept imagining her having to readjust the eyeholes and getting upset as she trudged through the rain, so I suggested I sew some old glasses inside the eyeholes to keep them in place. She agreed.

We’ve been through the stores, she seen all the overly expensive, cheaply made, one-time use costumes, and I keep feeling like I should be prepared for a last minute change of heart, but I don’t think it’s coming. She hasn’t budged a bit. She’s so excited about her no-cost, homemade, recycled ghost, and I am once again a proud Momster. It’s hard to allow myself to let her to keep it simple — I get in the way of my own preaching, but again and again simple is what she’s happy with. Now I’ve gotta go re-read Su Avasthi’s suggestions about other ways to make a green Halloween… though I know we’ll give out Tootsie Pops instead of organic lollipops again this year!

Photo credit: peasap