My two sons have picked their Halloween costumes for this year. My 5 year old chose Spiderman. Not to be outdone, my 3 year old also chose Spiderman. I guess this Halloween is a sequel to last Halloween when my oldest went as Spiderman, and my youngest went as Superman. Wow, they’ve really gotten creative with their choices.

I always visualized myself creating these original and elaborate costumes for my children. But when the season arrives, we are always lured by the ease of buying one from Target’s costume section. At least the store bought costumes are of better quality than the ones of my childhood.

When I was 5 years old, my aunt and uncle hosted a huge Halloween bash. My cousin, who was also 5 and I wore Wonder Woman costumes. But they were oh so different. Mine was courtesy of Hook’s Drug Store. A plastic cheapy that came in a box. My cousin’s was homemade and beautiful. As if that humiliation wasn’t enough, her picture made it into the newspaper the next day. That’s how terrific her costume was. After that Halloween, I vowed to make original costumes. And some years I had the creativity to pull it off.

Since my boys are so young, it really is up to me to help them get creative. Otherwise they will grab the first cool thing they see off the rack. Oh well, maybe this Spiderman franchise will come to an end this year. Note to Sam Raimi: Don’t make anymore Spiderman films!

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