The cookie has crumbled

C is for... Come up with a new idea for a Costume.

Sydney really wants to be Cookie Monster for Halloween. She's been telling us this for weeks. Can't you just imagine how cute she'd look in a fuzzy blue costume like this?
Alas, it is not meant to be. Though certainly not for lack of trying on my part. No local retailers carry anything close. They apparently believe Hannah Montana and Disney Princesses are the only thing little girls want to be this year.

And so I turned to the Web. Craigslist had nothing. Google revealed a number of online merchants offering the costume for an outrageous amount of money, but most of them carried it only in sizes 12-18 months (too small) or 4-6X (too big). A couple of places claimed to carry it in a 3T-4T, but then, a day after I placed my order, I got an e-mail apologizing that they didn't have it in stock and didn't know when more would be available. That happened twice.

By yesterday, I was crazed enough to register for ebay and place a bid on a used version. As I clicked on the "confirm bid", it dawned on me that I was becoming one of THOSE moms. I was putting way too much effort, and spending way too much money on a costume for a 2-year-old, a costume that by next year she won't even remember wearing.

As fate would have it, by this morning, another one of THOSE parents had outbid me. The price was up to $30 (plus $10 for shipping). Finally, common sense kicked in. This is as good a time as any for Sydney to learn that we don't always get what we want. More important, it's high time I remember that part of being a parent is teaching my kids a lesson in reality.

Though there are a couple of kids consignment shops in town I could check out...