I realize that it's just the beginning of September, but I've been giving some thought to Halloween costumes. Not for me, but for Nan. (I'll probably wear my normal disguise-- rapidly aging mom. Spot the gray hair! Note the sharpei-like droop around the eyes!) She's very taken with superheroes of late, a tendency fed by a super cool exhibit at the Children's Museum and her comic-book junkie father. When she visited the comic book exhibit at the museum, she spent a good twenty minutes running around in one of the capes provided for dress-up purposes, shouting, "Don't worry, people! I SAVE DAY!" She spends a lot of time rescuing me, her stuffed animals, and any random stranger she runs across at the playground. (The looks on the faces of her rescued victims are amusing-- they're wondering what on earth the two-year-old is yammering about as she runs at them.) Thus, I've decided Nan should be a superhero of some sort for Halloween-- but which one? There's the usual complement of female superheroes-- mostly scantily-clad versions of the guys, with "girl" appended to the end of the name-- i.e. Spidergirl, Supergirl, etc. Then, there's the iconic Wonder Woman, but Nan's a little underdeveloped to take on that unitard. We could go the 'Incredibles' route, but she's really too small to know anything about any of those characters. What to do? Enter a new-ish cartoon on PBS Kids-- WordGirl. It's clever, educational, and Nan absolutely LOVES IT. A bonus-- the costume would consist of red leggings, red long-sleeved t-shirt, some sort of belt, boots, a cape and hood. Bam. Warm enough for Halloween, and perfectly respectable. And WordGirl is super cool. She flies, has super strength, and can define any word in the English language. So perfect for my book-loving girl. (I know-- she's two. But she spends a good portion of each day poring over her books, and we have lots of discussions about what letters make what sounds. For real.) She'll be all set for trick-or-treating. Too bad I won't let her eat candy. Ah, well... she'll have to pass the chocolate over to mom. I'll have earned it by taxing my meagre sewing skills with the cape-making. Do they pass out beer? I'll need that, too, after I sew.