Parenting Guru: The Halloween momster strikes again

There's no doubt this is the scariest time of the year. But it's not the ghosts, witches and goblins that do me in. It's the ketchup bottles and men in yellow hats. (Ok, not men, one particularly feisty baby, really.)

For some reason Halloween brings out the momster in me. I feel this bizarre need to prove my insane creativity in the form of costumes for very little (very uncooperative) people. It all started when my son was 18 months old. (Well, I guess it really started when he was about 15 months old...these things take time.) I told my sewing-machine-lovin' mother in law that I thought the cutest costume ever for a 'Heinz' would be a ketchup bottle. But not just any ketchup bottle. A hand-painted, personalized Heinz ketchup bottle.

A 2-hour flight, a weekend of intense research at the fabric store and a custom-designed pattern later, our vision started to come to life. Not even raging wild fires and an evacuation could slow us down. This would be the best. costume. ever. And it was. It was a true masterpiece. That my son put on once. For about 1.67 seconds (give or take .05). Luckily I had the camera perched and ready. Sleepless nights, tendonitis and tears (his and mine) were totally worth it.

My insanity skips a year, but about 23 months later, I was back at it. My son (now a big brother) wanted to be a store-bought Curious George. (Oh the horror!) But I knew just how to save it. My baby would be the Man in the Yellow Hat. Apparently not a popular costume for 11-month olds because I couldn't find one. But I could find a large styrofoam cone, a butcher knife (don't ask), yellow dye and black fabric paint (not to mention a friend with mad sewing skills).

More late nights and grey hairs later, we'd struck costume gold (well, lemon yellow) again. But, again, my uncooperative little guy wouldn't wear the totally uncomfortable and awkwardly large hat. So everywhere we went, people would say, "Oh, so cute. A monkey and a banana!" Let's just say it's a good thing my husband hid the knife after one late-night meltdown.

Last year was tame. You know, it was that whole skip-a-year thing. (Well, we didn't totally skip the crazy...I tried to get one of them-either one-to wear the ketchup bottle again and ended up with two hamburgers.) So come July September I started getting anxious. Now I have a baby girl, but I've always wanted a little lady bug. Costco obliged. So it was up to the boys again. Big wanted to be Captain Hook. No wavering. Little, he wanted to be a Star Wars Incredibles Transformer Leopard. Yes! Someone with my creativity and passion for an original costume. The wheels were spinning!

But one walk through Old Navy and he was a changed man. A dragon. A store-bought dragon.

Maybe I should be disappointed, but I'm not. I can't help but love how excited he is about finding the just-right costume. And I can't help but think I'll be a better mom this Halloween season. Not a cooler, more creative, more complimented mom. But a less scary, more carefree one.

Next year, well, I'm not making any promises (costumes, maybe, but no promises). Scary, but true.

Amy is a Shine Parenting Guru. She also writes about her horrors adventures parenting two boys and a baby girl on her slice-of-life blog, Using Our Words. If you like this, like 'em all by following her on Facebook or Twitter.