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The Cheese Eater with some other kind of Star Wars trooper

For the past eleven months, the Cheese Eater has been telling me the same thing over and over again.

"Mommy, for Halloween I want to be a clone trooper."

That's right.  A clone trooper.  As in Star Wars, Darth Vader, and his galactic army.   As in my son seems to be reliving my childhood except I always wanted to be Princess Leia.  Last Halloween, a next door neighbor had worn the very costume to which my son was referring.  He had already decided--and we had already bought--a Lightening McQueen costume for him to wear.   So, when he asked if he could be a clone trooper instead, I told him that he would have to wait until next year.  And for the past 324 days, my son has been reminding me of the specifics of his costume. 

"I want to be the blue one," he'll continue to tell me.  "Not just a plain white one.  That's a stormtrooper.  I wanna be the blue one."

So last month when the Halloween costumes started to appear in the stores, I asked my son one more time--5-year-olds have been known to change their minds without a moment's notice.

"Yes, Mommy.  THE BLUE ONE!"

So the hunt was on.  Luckily for me, the hunt was short lived.  While in Target to buy a few quick things (let's be honest though, who ever walks out of Target with just a few things?) I decided to check out the costumes.  Sure enough, there was the blue clone trooper costume--the exact one the Cheese Eater had been asking for. 

There were only two children's sizes left--medium and large.  The medium said that it would fit "5 to 7 years," but my son is on the small end of the growth chart.  I knew that chances were likely that this costume would be too big.  Not to mention, it cost $39.99, about twenty dollars more than I had ever spent on a Halloween costume for my children.   

I stood there holding it in my hand, unsure of what to do.  I had two choices: 1) I could put it back and take my chances on finding it somewhere else, or 2) I could buy it now and not have to worry--or hear about it--for the next two months.

When I brought the costume home, I couldn't wait to show it to the Cheese Eater.

"I've got something you're really going to be excited about," I told him as he met me at the door. 

"Exo-Force Legos?" he asked.

"Uh, no. Not that.  It's the clone trooper costume that you wanted!"

As expected, he immediately wanted to put it on.  And as I figured, it was way too big.

"Buddy, it's a little too big.  Ummm..."

"It's okay, Mommy," he quickly said.  "I don't mind.  Where's the helmet?"

The costume was way too big.  He looked like some kind of shar-pie trooper the way the costume was all bunched up.

"Well, maybe Mommy can fix it," I told him.  In a moment of Halloween costume excitement, I thought that maybe I could take it in a little, whip out my little sewing kit and go to work on it.

"NOOOOOOOOO!" 

About that time, the Bald-Headed Monkey had gotten a hold of the clone trooper helmet.  As the Cheese Eater chased after him, he tripped over his own costume, fell on top of his little brother...and cracked the helmet.

So, now I have a clone trooper hanging in my closet that's too big with a broken helmet that I can't return.  Luckily, I found the same costume online in a size small, which is what I needed in the first place, and will only cost me $37.42 after shipping.

It better be a VERY happy Halloween this year. 

Check out Disney Family.com's group Halloween blog, The Ghoul's Guide, for more stories and tips.