Coming to terms with it.

My mother can kind of do anything. She's a great pianist, artist, hostess, teacher, organizer, cook. I really could go on and on.



And that lady can really put together some great Halloween costumes. She is a great seamstress and really loves holidays so, as kids, we had the most darling costumes, homemade, every year.



A sampling:

(Incidentally...this is the year, I officially realized I was too old to trick or treat, when one grumpy home-owner queried: "Shouldn't you be home shaving?!" And Crystal--notice Amy in the background).

This cosumes were all hand-sewn...along with my siblings. I used to feel--seriously--sorry for the kids in my classes who would come to school with the plastic Snow White mask over there face and would really think: "Their mom must just not love them as much as mine."

See... I have deep-rooted feelings about the importance of Halloween costumes!

So then I started having children and was all gung-ho about making them great costumes.

Except...

I don't sew.

At all.

I really can't even make the no-sew costumes that magazines put out in every October issue.

But I tried, because I couldn't just BUY their costumes! Really loving mothers don't do that! Here is Emma's 2nd and Gabe's 1st Halloween:

They were peas and carrots. They looked really cute (though Emma kept pleading to take it off: "No no want it carrots, Mom!"), but were completely falling apart before the Snickers' wrappers did.

The next year, I scoured magazines and tried to decide how to live up to this Halloween-Costume-Ideal in my head. I gave up the idea of homemade. But, I figured the next best thing was matching costumes. Emma would be Belle (purchased dress, altered by my MOTHER of course) and Gabe (Beast, purchased lion costume, with Grandma-made prince attire over the top).

The next year, it all came to a head. I had three kids, no sewing skills, no mother close-by and children who seemed to think THEY should choose their own costumes (excuse me?). And that's when I discovered:

That's right. Grandma Target.

It took a few years to feel totally comfortable with it. (My mom is so nice, when I apologize/explain the lack of Love-Filled-Homemade Costumes: "Oh, honey. They're so much better made nowadays. I would buy them now, too, I promise.") I felt guilty every time I opened up that web page. I gazed wistfully/jealously at others' homemade works of art.

(the fateful first year of --gasp!--store bought costumes)

I'm over that.

There is great joy in our house, when I announce (with all the love, nurturing and warmth this Mommy has to offer): "Be thinking about your costumes, guys! It's family-crowd-around-the-computer-and-pick-out-your-costume-night tonight."

I'm pretty sure they still know their Momma loves them.