I bought the Martha Stewart Magazine, Halloween issue. I also scooped up four little pumpkins at the grocery. Michael requested soup;I filled the cart with a selection of black bean and minestrone.  It seems as if Fall is here. The air has changed. Indian summer has hit. The kids are so excited about Halloween. We even decorated the porch.

Speaking of Halloween, can someone please explain to me why 90% of the costumes for boys involve a sword, frightening mask, or weapon of some kind?

Also, what happened to making a costume? When I was growing up and wanted to be a clown or a princess my mom or sister would make it for me. There was even one year my friend and I went as a pair of dice - so we all pitched in and made a die costume (well, it turns out I was allergic to the paint and broke out in hives, but that is another story). These days, it is a trip to Target or Old Navy to peruse the possibilities. When Alex didn't like the options in those stores, he wanted to look online. Great, not only are we supporting big box stores- I am pretty sure most all of these costumes are made in China- again I digress....

So online we looked. Alex loves penguins so I tried to beg offer to sew him a penguin costume. No thanks mom, he said. I really want Star Wars mom, he moaned. I said I didn't want him to have a mask. I reasoned that they don't allow a mask at school (its scary for younger kids). I didn't want a weapon. You know mommy does not like weapons, I told him.  He just looked so defeated and discouraged. There really were not that many options without masks or weapons. As we looked at a costume company web site, he saw the Star Wars icon, he asked me to click on it -so I did, and that was the end of my sweet fantasy about Alex dressed up as a penguin. He saw Anakin Skywalker and much like a a bride choosing her wedding dress, he decided that yes THIS was the one. I sighed. I didn't want him to be some character from a movie, but I also didn't want to have a show down with him, it's Halloween after all, isn't all this supposed to be fun? For a second I slipped into another fantasy about how cute it would be to dress as Princess Leah and have Sam be R2D2. In this haze I let my guard down.

Mom. PLEASE, he said. Annakin Skywalker is one of the good guys. He's not a bad guy like Darth Vadar- he is good. I am a good guy right mom?

Pause.

My brain took a temporary leave of absence because he is a good kid and what else is there really to say: I caved. We ordered the costume.

A couple of days went by, and I noticed Alex hanging out on the porch outside after school. Since he does not usually do that, I finally asked him what he was doing. He said he was waiting for his costume to come.  I thought it was so cute he was waiting and my life was so chaotic running around buying Martha Stewart magazines, it actually took me a few more days to realize that a confirmation e-mail had never arrived from the costume company confirming my order. It took an e mail and a couple a phone calls to confirm that I had never actually ordered the Anakin Skywaker costume with light saber sold separately! When I broke the news to Alex, he was crushed. I told him I was sorry but something had gone wrong with the order and it never was placed (even though he stood over my shoulder and watched me type in my credit card, security code and address). Something just went wrong. Sensing an opportunity, I asked again. Are you sure you don't want to be a penguin Alex?

No mom, I don't-  this time when you place the order, make it Fed EX!

I may have caved when it came to the costume and light saber, but there was no chance in this lifetime I was paying an additional $17.95 for Fed Ex Shipping. There is just NO way. Alex gets to be Anakin Skywalker, Jedi Knight- but he is going to have to wait until it comes regular mail.