Datebook: Thursday October 26th ~ 2006

It is hard to think of Halloween as a real holiday but it is my daughter’s favorite. Actually the candy industry sells 3 billion dollars worth of sugary treats during the last weeks of October with M & Ms hording the most revenue with a whopping 75 million in those little candy shapes that melt in your mouth and not in your hands.

I buy bags of candy every week as I grocery shop but oddly enough it is never around to hand out to the little ghosts and goblins that come to our house on the last day of the month and I am scrambling the day before to make an educated guess of how much more candy to buy for the big hand-out night. This time I don’t buy candy that anyone in my house likes—this is strictly Dum Dums and Hot Tamales time.

This year will be especially hard for me. With my daughter living in skater’s paradise in the urban Mecca, and my son “beyond that”, I am left at home to secretly miss the ghosts of Halloweens past.

Maybe some of you are missing the orange and black madness as much as I am because it seems like all ice dancers are Halloween buffs.

How else can you explain the love of dressing up in sequins and spandex and wearing elaborate make-up?

If you want to see the evolution of society in our country go back and look at the Halloween costumes that your kids have worn through the years. Most babies start off as either a pumpkin or a bunny or bear. This evolves into whatever princess is fashionable through Disney or whatever action figure has been promoted by Saturday morning cartoons.

We have a virtual “Stars on Ice” wardrobe at home with Jasmine, Mulan, Mermaids, and Sleeping Beauty. Of course we have coordinating costumes of Aladdin, Mufasa, the Red Power Ranger, Barney and Baby Bop, and a Orange M & M (not sure if the candy company got a piece of that purchase).

The best costume year we had, my daughter wore a skating competition dress and old skates and went as Michelle Kwan/Tara Lapinski, Olympian skater. It cost us nothing extra but seemed a bit over the top as far as Halloween costumes go—I mean what other 8-year old had a five hundred dollar dress on?

But now that she is no longer a “child” I tried to help my daughter come up with a costume idea. Please note she did not ask me to do this but I butted in as mothers are known and expected to do. My first ideas were these great vintage sequined dresses in hot pink and raging red that I have collected—(that is a long story and we better not get distracted with that now). These dresses could go into Motown, Vegas, or a Showgirl theme, but they were given the thumbs down. Without much consideration I might add.

My daughter said she wanted to be a “flight attendant” so I looked on line for a possible source of costume selections for her.

And I was shocked.

What flight school did these attendants graduate from?

I have never been served or assisted in the air by anyone wearing a four inch skirt and jacket with cut-outs.

It thought perhaps I had gone to the wrong website so I clicked out and went to another site that offered fire and police costumes.

Okay, I’m pretty sure that most police officers don’t carry handcuffs with fur on them.

When did Halloween costumes become so sexy?

Where are the pumpkins and ghosts?

How are kids supposed to go from being Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz to Sheena, sex goddess of the jungle when they turn 18?

My daughter told me she was making a costume so I decided not to ask her what it was going to be, as I may now never be able to fly United again and am afraid of destroying more stereotypes.

Since I was filling a little blue without the hope of wandering the sidewalks in a week decked out with flashlight and filled candy sacks, trailing squealing children yelling “Trick or Treat”, I went to my hair stylist for a body wave.

As I sat in the chair under those harsh lights I felt the irony of Halloween upon me after all.

“Don’t you just love those curls?” my hairdresser asked.

Great, I thought. Now I look just like Howard Stern for the holiday season. Hopefully no one will say, “great costume”.

Mombo #9