Thankfully, my niece, Brandy, stood in as Dora for us that year – and Dora just had two buddies dressed as Boots.
Courtesy of Sarah Shrader
October sure is rolling by fast – I cannot believe that it is already almost time for trick-or-treat. I feel like most years, we have costumes picked out by mid-August. And yet, this year, we are still missing pieces that we need to pick up for Maylie’s and Reagan just picked hers out last week.
It’s different this year – maybe it is because we are so busy, or maybe it is because my babies are just growing up so quickly. I can’t tell. And I am torn because I am not stressed about it this year. Which makes me wonder if it was me putting the pressure on myself to make sure that they had the exact outfit they wanted or if they truly are just getting older and don’t care as much.
I mean, don’t get me wrong, my reptile loving Reagan was ecstatic to find a green (one of her favorite colors) serpent queen costume complete with a crown of snakes, but it’s not like she talked about that particular outfit for weeks leading up to it like she has in the past. Instead, we went to the Halloween store, she found it in about 3 minutes and that was that.
Maylie has an idea in her head of what she wants to be – which includes the white dress we bought on Amazon that she is going to splash with the fake blood we purchased – but we have yet to put it all together. Maybe, they just trust that I will figure it all out and we will have it done in time so there is no need to nag me about it. Or maybe I just trust that we will have it done in time and there’s no need to nag her about it. Honestly, I am not sure.
And that is so crazy to me because back when Halloween was new to me as a Mom, I remember ordering months ahead for the perfect costumes for my girls. At age 2, Maylie was obsessed with Dora and, since Reagan was only 6 months old, she had no say in her costume. So, I ordered the cutest Dora and Boots combo for my girls.
Thankfully, I ordered it early because when they came in, Maylie decided she did NOT want to be Dora and insisted on being Boots. In fact, after going rounds with my toddler, I gave in and squeezed her into the baby Boots outfit just to pacify her until I could order one her size. Thankfully, my niece, Brandy, stood in as Dora for us that year – and Dora just had two buddies dressed as Boots.
Man, that seems like yesterday and yet here we are eight years later already. Speaking of already, this year in middle school, they have a dance on the same night as trick-or-treat. I think it is by design so those “older” kids have something to do that night. But guys, Maylie goes to middle school NEXT year. Which means, gulp, I can’t even get the words out … this could be her last year trick-or-treating.
To make matters worse, I literally did not even realize that until I wrote out those words. I mean, I know about the dance because Lynds is in middle school – but the fact that Maylie will be there next year. Ugh. Thankfully, Lynds is cool with skipping the dance – she is not ready to give up the free candy yet. But Maylie, sometimes she gets in a hurry to grow up. She may decide that she wants to do the dance instead.
And I can’t handle it. With all the craziness of trick-or-treat while my kiddos were toddlers and even the last few years, I never once thought about the fact that we really do not have that many actual days of dressing up and hitting the streets for Halloween. I don’t for a second regret buying that second Boots outfit. Nor do I regret the year Maylie wanted to be three different things and we made it happen. Or the scary make-up Reagan wanted even though I thought she was too cute to wear something so gross.
What I do know is that I better get moving this year – we need to get Maylie’s idea for her costume out of her head and into her outfit. We need to make it epic. And I need to soak in every single step of our time spent doing it together.
Because it is so cliché, but I swear it gets truer and truer every single year; time goes so fast. These childhood years with my babies are fleeting. So, you better believe this year – whether it is the last, second to last or (hopefully) not even close to their last trick-or-treat, I am going to make it count!
Sarah (Pitson) Shrader was born and raised in Lima. She is a Lima Central Catholic and Tiffin University graduate. Sarah is a full-time working mama who enjoys writing about her somewhat crazy, always adventurous life as a mother. She lives in Bath Township with her daughters and writing inspirations, Maylie and Reagan.
