Some people love Halloween. It can even top Christmas as their favourite time of the year. From the decorating, costumes and even the candy, everything about the holiday holds a special time in their heart.

That is not me. This year I am a Halloween scrooge. One who is already over it despite the fact that we haven’t even decorated the pumpkins.

I’m a crafty mom. A horrible combination of craftiness and willingness to take on too many projects. It never leads anywhere good, especially around the holidays.

Around August last year my husband and I were strolling around shopping sans kiddos in late August when we noticed the Halloween costumes had hit the shelves. Although cute, the costumes seemed flimsy and expensive. I’m not sure why past the age of two it has been decided that costumes no longer need to be warm. We go from full bodies of fleece to the cheapest and flimsiest of material still costing a small fortune. The combination of frugality and craftiness is one that results in a lot of projects. That year I decided my goal was to keep the kids warm enough to not have to wear a winter coat over their costume. (Really what is the point of that?)

With time on my side I decided to order sweatshirts, overalls and then make minion hats. The result was a coat free (but extremely mild) Halloween and some really cute pictures. This year I wanted more of the same, except I didn’t factor in the fact that I would be away for a large chunk of October and the fact that my kids can be complete @ssholes.

When you have a crafty mom, you get crafty things. My kids have gotten hats made in the image of their favourite cartoon, dolls made to look just like them and even full dresses for special occasions. To them, this is normal, not special. So of course they don’t appreciate it. They just expect it.

After spending hours creating a wonder woman outfit specifically designed to be both warm and super cool, my sweet four-year-old took the time to inform me she actually just wanted to be a witch. A costume I could have probably whipped up out of dollar store finds and a good half hour. At this point I had a glue gun in one hand and a cramp from cutting out felt stars in another.

It was a breaking point.

This type of insane behaviour is not limited to Halloween. Christmas is worst, definitely worse. Each year I want make handmade gifts for my kids (why?) and spend hours slaving away. Do my kids even want these gifts? Although they did show appreciation for the dolls I hand sewed into their likeness, I am sure they preferred the robotic pooping variety. I have a dollhouse to put together for my middle daughter that is certain to be hours of frustration, yet I put myself through it year after year.

This year is different though. My normally hands off husband has spent many nights putting together a huge LEGO set for my daughter. It came with around 6000 pieces. At first, he planned on leaving it until Christmas eve. Many hours and a small amount of progress later, he is happy he decided to start before the dreaded ‘advent countdown’. I don’t know if I should feel guilt for bringing him into my craziness, or glee that I am not alone in my insanity.

Being consumed with a Halloween costume crunch has caused us to miss out on a lot of the fun of the season. We have yet to rake and then jump in our leaves. Our pumpkins were hastily picked out but not yet carved and the only thing scary about our house is how messy it has become.

Oh well. At least I still have plenty of time to get ready for Christmas.

I hope.

Pin for Later: