Trial run of the Halloween costume

As much as I know it frustrates retailers who would prefer that I plow straight into Christmas, I hope it's okay if we acknowledge Halloween.  This year my daughter wants to be a cat. I figured it would be pretty easy. I bought her a long-sleeved leotard and some tights. We happened to find some cat ears in a store about a month ago. They have sequins on them, so that's a plus. The next challenge was to find a tail.  I figured I could find one online.  The kid was sitting in my lap while I started doing Google searches for furry cat tails. Um, yeah. So it turns out that this search will generally lead you to various fetish sites. You know, the whole furry thing? People who dress up as great big kitty cats and whatnot? Scared to click on anything, I just said, "Hey, how about we have Meemaw make you a tail?" Whew!

Last weekend the kid and I went to a Halloween store - one of those joints that opens up in an unoccupied store in a strip mall this time of year. We wandered up and down the aisles, killing time on Saturday night. We spotted some cat tails that seemed pretty decent. I called my mom to let her know that we'd found a tail and that she was off the hook. My sister's wedding is coming up next month and she has assigned a few projects to Mom. So, I figured it was better to let her focus on that stuff anyway. While I was talking to my Mom, the kid rounded a corner and then came back saying she needed to show me something. I finished my conversation with my mom and followed the kid down the aisle.

"I feel like I should have some kind of accessory to carry," she said.

"Oh, like a hatchet or a bloody sword?" I asked.

She gave me a look. "No, this!" She held up a black leather braided whip that she'd found in the 'sexy costumes' aisle.*

"Ah, no."  I shook my head for emphasis.

"Well, how about this belt?" she asked, pointing to some sort of dominatrix-themed necklace/choker.

"Let's just go pay for the tail," I said, ushering her to the register as fast as I could.

Tonight we did a trial run of the costume. It definitely needs something, though I'm not sure what. I'm toying with maybe getting some fabric paint and painting a white belly on the leotard or something. Also, I don't know what to do with her make-up. She wanted a white face but I think it looks goofy. I'm going to try to talk her into doing some standard whiskers instead. This is one of those times when I wish I had some artsy-fartsy skills.


 *In her defense, she and her dad read comic books together, so she was probably thinking of Cat Woman. I still didn't buy her the whip, though.


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