That's right – never. Halloween has always been my favorite holiday. I've dressed up for every year for as long as I can remember. Yet never have I donned that ethereal white sheet to become one of Halloween's biggest staples. I have a downright aversion to it. Why? you might ask. I blame:



As you can see, even at five years old, I took Halloween Very Seriously. It was an occasion to shine. I had on a most lovely gown, my hair was curled, and it was the one day a year that I got to wear make-up. The...gall of some people! No matter how much you dress it up with smoky eyes and come-hither lips, cutting a few holes in a piece of fabric does not a costume make.

It was something his momma probably threw together that morning, yet no one gave that ghost a hard time. I had fretted for days over my costume, and people kept calling me a princess. A princess! Cripes, grown-ups, I was so obviously a fairy godmother.

I solved this dilemma the next year by doing something the masses seemed to understand: pop culture icon.





Some years I had to bow to the whims of my mother &/or her pocketbook. There was the year, for instance, that she worked at a fabric shop. We all got Halloween-print smocks and gaudy make-up and went as ghouls:



I have no idea who the clown was. That was another stereotype I avoided, although I did take a turn as a witch, vampire, and my personal favorite, Death:



Once I got into my teens, I continued the costume-snobbery. The only real way to do costumes was to make them yourself. My first year – and the last I went Trick-or-Treating – I made a Dorothy costume. I hand-sewed a cute little blue gingham apron, did some pig-tails and red shoes, and carried a basket for my candy bag. I finished sewing it in the van during our first two stops, and I had to tuck the needle and thread into my bra so I could keep sewing my costume back together all night.

I originally had this hard-core mentality that Halloween costumes had to be scary. Those teen years, I realized the benefit of cuteness. Especially when I was forced to quit Trick-or-Treating, but I still longed for attention and sweets. With my long dark hair, Cleopatra became a recurring favorite:



That was also the year I did my first joint-costume. There beside me you see Achaiah as a pup. She went as yellow. Everyone knows how much Cleopatra liked yellow.

Once I got a mate and family of my own, I got better at the joint-costuming. This is our first attempt. We were pirates, even though Eden insisted on being a faerie instead.



By the time we had Ivy, I managed to talk her into the joys of a group effort. Our favorite Halloween yet was the Labyrinth year:



Last year we were in a tight spot and I pulled my mom's “ghoul” trick. (Eden had horns. Ivy wore her spotted 101 Dalmation outfit and got a black nose.) I've made up for it this year. This is the first time we're able to actually go out and buy costumes. The girls wanted a cat theme, which I couldn't quite sell Josh on. So Josh and I are reprising our pirate roles. The reason is two-fold: 1) The first time, everyone seemed to think I was a one-eyed gypsy, & 2) I wanted something practical that I can use all year round.

Happy Halloween!

This is my entry for therealljidol. If you like it, please remember me when the polls go up this weekend.