Batman and Ladybugs

Baby man was not quite two and a half this year at Halloween which had its good and bad points.
Being two and a half, bed time is 7:30 and knowing very little about candy means we don't have to take him tricker-treating yet and thus no money spent on costumes, candy and no annoying kids at the door. Bah-humbug, I know but there will be years of this in future. 

About a week before Halloween I catch wind that Baby Man's daycare is having a little party and tricker-treating from class to class. The festivities are being funded by a bag of candy from each child. Despite my disappointment that I'd not be getting off easy this year I decide to go with the flow.
Baby Man and I go to the mart and look for an inexpensive costume that is cute but boyish instead of babyish. I'm not sure why but Baby Man loves to shop at the mart and is instantly thrilled as I push the cart into the store three days before the party.

In the grand tradition of marketing and impulse buys the Halloween section is right by the door; a masterfully orchestrated riot of color, sound, and black stringy things. I find the isle of toddler costumes and am pleased to find some moderately priced, cute choices for Baby Man.
Captivated by the huge inflatable spider spanning over three isles, it takes me a moment to get Baby Man's attention. "Hey Baby Man, do you like the pirate costume?" I ask as I present him with a cute little pirate outfit complete with ragged cutoff pants and striped shirt. Knowing he loves Veggie Tales "Pirates Who Don't Do Anything," I hope he'll bite and we can leave. (I do not share his love of shopping at the mart.)

He looks at it for a moment before grimacing and replying, "Too scary!" He continues to shake his head as I attempt to persuade him that it is fun, not scary. Not buying it he finally putting his foot down with, "No Mommy! Too scary! No pirate."

I pick up a passable lion suit saying, "Oh, look! A lion!" I think he almost squeaks as he repeats the mantra "too scary." I think toddler brains get stuck sometimes. It was clear that everything was going to be too scary. Feeling defeated I tried to sneak the lion into the cart. Baby Man promptly screamed "Too Scary!" and tried to crawl out of the cart to get away from the cute fuzzy lion suit. Next came the most useless tool in a parent's kit... reason.

"OK." I say putting the lion back on the rack. "We need to pick something for you to wear. Is there anything here you would wear?" He politely scans the isle and pronounces them all too scary. While taking in a deep breath preparing to announce his discontent, Baby Man's eyes grew wide and his complaint fizzled away. Pointing, at a black and red package few feet farther down the row he squeals, "ladybug!" With glee. "Have it, ladybug, mommy!" He reaches for the package and I push the cart closer. 

I pick up the package flipping it over. "Ladybug, ladybug," says Baby Man as I stare at the photo of a girl in a black and red dress with black polkadot wings. "My have it!" Baby Man announces.
"Hey little man, this is for a girl. We need to find something else." A wail erupts, "No! My have it ladybug mommy!" I sigh deeply wishing I could have avoided Halloween all together. "I'm sorry sweetheart, but this is for a girl. Look for something else." It became clear that this was the only thing he wanted. I examined the package wondering if I could alter the costume in some way to make it less feminine. Unfortunately it was one of those shinny, puffy sleeved, slip-on dresses with a big puffy skirt and wings. There wasn't much I could do so I put it back on the rack and Baby Man began to cry. 

I decide that all isn't lost and we made our way over to the boys clothes. In the pajama section there are a variety of pajamas with all the latest branding on them. Surely I'd be able to find something that looked remotely like a costume and then he could wear it as pajamas after the party. I was feeling pretty smart when I picked up superman pjs with a cape and everything. I showed it to Baby Man. "How cool is this?" I ask excitedly. "It has a cape and everything! You want to wear the superman costume?" He looks confused and slowly shakes his head; a frown forming. "Too scary!"

Sighing I put it back and look around. There are cute batman PJs with a drawn on utility belt and everything. Not even pulling it off the rack I ask, "What about batman? Do you want to be batman?" William looks at the batman shirt and pants then says. "Yes." In my short 8 months of Baby Man's expanding vocabulary I've learned never to question an answer I've been fishing for. I toss batman into the cart and we are out of there.

Once at home I was the new PJs and put them in the drawer for Halloween. The morning of Halloween we are getting dressed for school and I pull the cool batman PJs out of the drawer and Baby Man yells, "No Mommy! Too Scary! No batman!" I must confess I get a little upset then decided it doesn't matter and dress him in regular school clothes. 

A couple weeks later he finds them in his drawer and asks to wear them to bed.....