We have finally decided what Halloween costumes we are going to wear this year at our house. But let me tell you, it wasn't easy.

As a Details Dad, I feel we need to act quickly and decisively as a family. But I am also slowly learning that I sometimes have to sit back, wait, and let creativity take its course. Every year it seems that arriving at a decision on what to wear for Halloween is "tricky" at best.

For me, I think you should decide what you want to wear, and just go with it. Don't make it such a big deal. But my wife has high standards when it comes to Halloween costumes.

First off, the costumes have to revolve around a theme. Last year, we all went as Flintstones characters. The year before, the kids went as a Husker football player and a Husker cheerleader. So, you are seeing the theme develop.

This year, my son wanted to go as Green Lantern. So, we thought a superhero theme would be good. Our 6-year-old daughter could go as Wonder Woman or Bat Girl, right? Wrong.

She had her heart set on a princess dress she saw in a magazine. It was called "Princess Josephine", I think. Of course, I looked at the price and it was nearly $80. It was a nice costume, but I wondered if it was worth wearing for one night.

My daughter even told my wife's parents that she would like the dress, but "Daddy probably won't get it, because he says it costs too much money." As the days drew closer to Halloween, there was no real decision on the costume theme. Then my wife found out that her niece was going as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. A light bulb went on in her mind. She realized that our daughter could go as Glenda, the Good Witch. That way, our daughter could be dressed up as a quasi-princess, and still fit the Oz theme.

Our son then decided he would like to be the Scarecrow. Cool. Then Taryn thought I should pull out my old Cowardly Lion costume that I used for a high school play.

Finally, Taryn got so excited that she actually bought a Wicked Witch of the West costume. So actually, when you go back and look at it, Halloween ended up costing me more. We got the Glenda dress which was close to the price of the original princess dress our daughter wanted. And, we also got a costume for my wife, too.

But, hey, as long as everyone is happy, and we are fitting into the theme of Halloween this year, then I can live with it. So there you go. The theme this year is "The Wizard of Oz". I wonder what next year will bring!