By Whitney

Halloween season has launched full force … in case you haven’t been to any retail stores lately. For my almost-5-year-old who has an almost-Halloween birthday, this is the best time of the year. The days are still long enough that we can hang out at the park after preschool, and when we get home, the mailbox is filled with catalogs and magazines that feature Halloween-themed pictures for us to page through after dinner as we talk about ghosts and skeletons.

For Julian, trick or treating is not about candy, but about seeing all the costumes on parade. He uses our trunk of costumes year-round, and Halloween is the day where, in his mind, everyone else has finally been enlightened enough to join him in the world of dress up.

Julian was so pleased with his appearance in a theatrical pirate costume yesterday that he wanted to wear it to the farmer’s market so that everyone could see him in all his mustachioed glory. To have such confidence!

Last week, he was a silly monster, wearing crazy rainbow legwarmers and arm-warmers, topped by a fuzzy hat and a pair of devilish horns. And in his closet, a pair of engineer overalls and a lemur costume hang, in case he wants to go to the grocery store with me in character.

If your child does not share this passion, and will putting on her costume for the first time on Halloween, may I suggest you take the costume for a test drive? Allow her to go on an outing in the costume to work out any kinks.

Can she walk and run? Can she see? You may have to make some adjustments to her costume to support a safe trick-or-treating session. Fight these battles a week in advance so that you don’t have to spend October 31 negotiating with your child.

Need inspiration for creative costumes for babies? Check out the Rookie Moms™ Halloween Guide.