Some moms are experts at making any holiday magical. For these festive elves, Halloween is just another chance to make every moment perfect. Elaborate costumes with special effects makeup? Done. Individual goodie bags filled Halloween pencils and stickers for passing out at school? On it. Perfectly frosted pumpkin and goblin cookies and themed lunches with cheese stick ghosts? Girl, we know these moms did it, made the TikTok, and are already planning for how to turn their front yard into the perfect spooky but not too scary Halloween scene.
And, honestly, good for those making all the things magical moms. If they find joy in going all out for all the big (and not-so-big) holidays, we're not throwing shade. But we can't always relate. We're more of the "buy four bags of Halloween candy in September and then accidently eat all of it and then panic shop at Costco on October 29" kind of mom. Our costumes are store-bought. Our trick-or-treat bags are reusable grocery sacks. Our kids are the ones bringing home those goodie bags of stickers and we're the ones saying, "Wait, is that a thing we do now? We're sending presents for Halloween?" So, needless to say, we're very here for hearing about some hilarious mom Halloween related fails. These are our people and we celebrate them, too!
Halloween Rain
"Here's my pro-tip: Check the freaking weather forecast before you go trick-or-treating. My daughter is still (three years later!) reminding me of the Halloween when it started raining when we were blocks away from home and I was the only mom without an umbrella. I had one soaking wet, and very crabby, princess on my hands." β Lauren W., Colorado Springs, Colorado
Pumpkin Carving Fail
"I thought pumpkin picking and then carving would be fun. Wholesome family fun! I did not account for the fact that my toddler, who grow deeply attached to her pumpkin, LOST HER LITTLE MIND when I stabbed it with a knife. So many tears. So. Many. Tears." β Jen R., Atlanta, Georgia
The Banana Suit
"Last year I spent hours attaching battery-powered LED lights to black jogging bottoms and hoodie so my son could be a light-up stick figure. At the last moment he ditched that costume in favor of his sister's old banana suit." β Mom in Catriona, Scotland
Not Too Much Candy
"My son was complaining on Halloween about having a bad stomachache. I told him that it was his own fault for eating too much candy while trick-or-treating. I told him that he'd feel better when he pooped. He said he felt really sick, so I put him in bed and told him he'd feel better the next day. I felt like a real jackass when it turned out that it wasn't too much candy. It was his freaking appendix." β Name withheld by request
Missed It
"We moved to Iowa in early October and were crazy busy getting settled in. We took one last trip back to California but I was so proud of myself for getting us back into town by the afternoon of the 31st so we could take the kids trick-or-treating in our new neighborhood. I got us all decked out in cute costumes and we rang the first doorbell, which is when we learned that our town doesn't trick-or-treat on Halloween. We do Beggar's Night (usually on the 30th) and I totally missed the memo. Thankfully some of our neighbors took pity on us and gave my kids some candy." β Mandy K., Des Moines, Iowa
Costume Fail
"My daughter wanted to be a doctor for Halloween. Cool! I ordered her a costume and when the package arrived, I stuck it in the closet so she wouldn't see it and want to wear it before Halloween. I finally opened it the day before and it β¦ was not a tiny set of medical scrubs, it was a women's XS sexy nurse costume. So not the vibe we were going for." β Meghan L., Eugene, Oregon
The Big Melt
"We were supposed to bring three bags of candy to the school carnival. I thought I'd be smart and pick up some on the way to work. I left all of it on the front seat of the car and didn't think about the fact that it was going to be 90+ degrees during the day. Yep. Brought three bags of totally melted chocolate bars to the school carnival." β Marlee H., Phoenix, Arizona
Party Fail
"I love Halloween. I love a fun costume and a chance to embrace all the spooky stuff. The first Halloween when my kids were out of trick-or-treat phase, I decided my husband and I should find a fun grown-up party to go to. I found one online and planned our costume β which was a very fun fisherman and octopus thing. How I missed that the party was not just a grown-up party but was actually an adult party. Like swingers and sex rooms and nobody else dressed as seafood. We lasted 15 minutes and then bounced. We drove around for an hour so we wouldn't have to explain to the kids why were were home so soon." β Name withheld by request
Cookie Fails
"Why I volunteered to bring cookies to my daughter's day care Halloween party, I don't know. I don't bake. I think I just felt like it was a mom thing to do β yes, this was a first time mom thing β and that I wasn't going to half way do it. So I made these elaborate sugar cookies even though I'm gluten-free. I obviously didn't try one (because: gluten) so I didn't notice that I'd totally screwed up the recipe. I don't even know what I did wrong, though I think I might have gotten baking soda and baking powder mixed up? All I know is that a cookie has to be really gross for 3-year-olds to refuse to eat them." β Kim D., Stillwater, Minnesota
Pirate Problem
"My son changed his mind 100 times about what he wanted to be for Halloween. He finally told me he wanted to be a pirate. I one clicked a pirate costume and called it good. When it arrived, he burst into tears. He wanted to be a Pittsburgh Pirate β¦ so a baseball player, not a pirate. I live in Pittsburgh. I should totally have clarified that." β Lana S., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pick Up the Mummy
"My kids always wore costumes to school. I guess I missed the newsletter that said the school policy had changed. I got up at 5 a.m. to wrap my kid in a mummy costume and do all their makeup. Dropped them off at 7:15 a.m. for school, got called at 7:45 a.m. to pick them back up so they could come back in 'something more appropriate.' Oops." β Blythe R., St. Paul, Minnesota
Not That Kind of Party
"I spent more than I usually do for my daughter's witch costume, so when our neighbors asked if she wanted to come to their church's fall festival, I thought it would be fun to send her in her costume. Then I'd get at least two wearings out of it. Yeah, turns out their church is one of those very anti-Halloween churches and sending her dressed as a witch was a big swing and miss. Our neighbors were too polite to tell her to change, but they looked so uncomfortable." β Shelby W., Gadsden, Alabama
Bad Candy
"Our street is crazy on Halloween. We literally get hundreds and hundreds of trick-or-treaters. It can get really expensive if you buy the good candy. So I bought about 25 pounds of off-brand candy from the dollar store to save money last year. Then we all ended up having COVID on Halloween and didn't do any Halloween stuff. So the kids didn't get to hit all the houses that give out the good stuff and we were stuck with bags of candy that nobody really likes. Total day after Halloween bummer." β Jamie J., Wichita, Kansas
Wrong Address
"My son and his friend were having a little prank war, all very harmless fun. We decided to have some old -school Halloween fun and to TP his friend's house. We did it and it was so fun! Total throwback to my own high school days. The next morning we went over to help them clean it up and met their very grumpy neighbors who were not at all pleased that some random kid had TP'd their house. In my defense, I was very close on the address. But not close enough." β Annie W., Sawtell, Iowa
Where Did the Candy Go?
"We got our first knock on the door from a trick-or-treater and my husband went to get the candy from our hiding spot. I heard him open a bunch of cabinet doors and then yell 'Hey, where's the candy?' and then I remembered that I'd eaten the last of it the night before and forgot to replace it. In my defense, I was super pregnant and had both pregnancy brain and a serious candy craving. I ate five bags the week before Halloween. We had nothing in the house for trick-or-treaters, so he gave the kid a dollar and then shut off the light for the rest of the night." β Laura T., Tucson, Arizona
