For nearly a month, my daughter has told me she wants to be Elmo for Halloween. It’s not surprising, as the furry red monster from Sesame Street is her favorite character. We watch Elmo DVDs. She cuddles a stuffed Elmo doll. We read Elmo books. Elmo, Elmo, Elmo.
“Make me Elmo for Halloween, Mommy,” she sweetly asked.
“No problem, Kiddo,” I told her. “You will be Elmo.”
So a few weeks back I started my search for a gently used Elmo costume. I called Once Upon A Child, the children’s consignment shop in south Fargo, once a week. Lots of ladybugs, they told me, but no Elmo. I searched thrift stores. I looked online. I 
thought about trying to concoct a homemade Elmo costume with a hooded sweatshirt and painted ping pong balls. Finally, I just decided to buy a new costume at Target. We don’t splurge on Eve a lot, and she obviously wanted this enough to warrant spending $17.
I bought the costume Friday. She was so excited, she tried it on right away. I had to do a lot of talking to get her to take it off before eating her pizza. I hung it up in the closet to keep it clean till Oct. 31, feeling content how far ahead of the game I was.
Until yesterday. When Eve told me she wants to be a puppy for Halloween.
Eeeeeeeeeek!!!!!! Talk about a fright night.