By far, my favorite thing about Halloween is watching kids and animals paraded around like little circus acts.  I think it's hilarious.  I'm sure the folks in PETA might be against some of the stuff on Cute Overload and Stuff On My Cat (such as cat lizard, cat Superman, cat Snow White, cat lobster, dog Batman, collection of dogs, dog Superman, dog bus), but I'm a huge fan.  I wish I had a pet that was ok with wearing costumes.  Whenever I try to put anything on Dilbert or Nemo, they collapse like a magical switch just turned off their motor skills. 

All babies are required to go through a series of embarrassing costume endeavors, most of which consist of being a baby animal for Halloween, a baby animal for Christmas, a baby animal for Easter or some other spring holiday, and the classic "passed out next to an empty beer bottle" for any holiday not previously covered.  I was just at ShopRite and saw a mom with her daughter dressed as a little lady bug.  As I was driving to work this morning, I saw a bunch of kids in their costumes getting on the bus to go to school.  I'm amazed at the quality and ingenuity of costumes these days.  My parents never bought us Halloween costumes.  We always wore some combination of random garments found in the attic.  Every year, at least one of us was some sort of bum or other related oversized-unmatching-old-clothing gig.  The kids these days really have it made.  Stores like Walmart have a huge selection of all kinds of costumes, ranging from classic superheroes to ghosts and dead things.  It's great to see parents acting out their childhood wishes with their children or pets.  When I have kids, I'll do the same.  Tis the reason for the season.