After going round and round with Lil’ J about what she wanted to be for Halloween, we finally settled on Tinkerbell. We’ve been working to get a family costume coordinated.

Lil’ J already failed to convince her daddy to be Peter Pan so she settled for Captain Hook.

I sent my husband a text message with the costume I found, and it went something like this:

She says: Hey babe, I just ordered your Halloween costume!

He says: Oh hell no…

She says: Come on!! We are all going as Peter Pan characters and the kids will think you’re SO cool!

He says: They already do.

He is a cool dad, but this would give him major bonus points–at least with me. I showed a picture of the costume to Lil’ J, and told her she should ask daddy if he’ll wear it. She looked at the photo on my phone, gave it back to me and said, “Um, I don’t want him to get mad at me.” Poor thing probably had flashbacks of when she asked him to be Peter Pan.

A couple days later, I heard my husband announcing he had a secret to tell our daughter that she couldn’t tell me. They huddled and whispered over homework. They do this every now and then so I didn’t think anything of it and forgot how hard it was for my daughter to keep a secret… Until the next afternoon when she told me “Daddy says if I practice my numbers every day he’ll be Captain Hook for Halloween!”

My heart leapt. Oh, we could do that. Of course I hadn’t actually ordered the costume, but now I basically had his blessing. (Between you and me, I just ordered one even more elaborate).

Will he actually wear it? It’ll come down to Halloween night, we’ll see. It’ll be the first of a few battles that night, I’m sure. Others will be convincing our little Peter Pan to stay with us and not run away. Making sure our Tinker Bell doesn’t eat any candy before we inspect it (though she’s generally good about this). And arguing with Captain Hook about which houses are indeed passing out candy.

The general rule of thumb is if the porch lights are on, it’s game. But my husband likes to also see a certain amount of Halloween decorations out front before approaching. Just how many tricks it takes to meet his quota, I’m not sure. But we wind up skipping a lot.

According to Allstate, I’m right that the porch light is a good indicator, while dark houses are probably not participating.

Here are 5 more tips from Allstate to keep us all safe this Halloween:

• Take a working flashlight and/or glow sticks to make sure you and your kids are visible from afar. You can also add reflective tape to costumes and bags to increase visibility.
• Be sure to walk only on sidewalks, and to take extra caution when crossing streets. Never dart out from behind parked vehicles.
• Stick to familiar homes and neighborhoods or pre-plan where you will trick-or-treat.
• Shoes should fit well and costumes should be short enough so that your trick-or-treater won’t trip over their costume. If you buy or make a costume, use materials that are flame-resistant
• Homeowners: Keep pets, even if they’re friendly, indoors. They might frighten children or accidentally get loose.

And one I should have thought of last year when my little sister came along and decided to ditch us for her friends: Choose a meeting place just in case your children get separated from the group.

You can read-up on more Halloween safety tips here before this weekend.

I’ll let you know Saturday if he wears the costume. You’d better believe there will be LOTS of proof wonderful family pictures documenting the sweet occasion.

Are you dressing up for Halloween? What is your family going as?

This post was written as part of the Allstate Influencer Program and sponsored by Allstate. All opinions are mine. As the nation’s largest publicly held personal lines insurer, Allstate is dedicated not only to protecting what matters most–but to guiding people to live the Good Life, every day.

Tags: halloween, He says she says, he says/ she says