A kid, his car wash and a whole lot of Halloween fun

When Max told me he wanted to be an "arrrrr wahhh" (car wash) for Halloween, I decided I was going to make him the best damn arrrrr wahhh ever. I didn't know if he'd actually be into it—the car costume I put together last year amused him for maybe 10 minutes—but I didn't care. I was inspired by the suggestions I'd gotten here, I like a good challenge, and I will basically do anything to make Max happy. Trust me, I wasn't looking to appease the scrooges who thought the kids just HAD to dress up on Halloween.

Here's what went into this contraption:
• I call a local janitorial supply company to see about getting mopheads with felt flaps. The woman's really nice, and I end up explaining what I'm up to. "You need ShamWow!" she says. "Sham what?!" I say. She explains it's the material I'm thinking of, sold in large pieces. Problem: I have no time to order any. I call up a local "As Seen On TV" store. They have a rip-off version! On sale for $12.99 for three big squares!
• I browse Home Depot for inspiration, and get excited to find a squeegee with a small handle that looks like Max should be able to grasp it. A guy there finds me some sturdy wire I need for the car wash flaps.
• I realize I need a bubble blower. All the stores are out of them. I get in touch with a bubble company. They kindly offer to send one. It arrives on Wednesday, and it does not work. I take it over to Gyneen and Greg, neighbors who know how to fix things. Not this time, but they do have a boxed disco set with the song "Car Wash." I send out an email to my mother's group. A woman who runs a local art and music center offers to lend me a bubble blower. A woman who happens to work for Little Kids offers to hook me up with some bubble action, too. Whew. Clearly, it takes a village to build a human car wash.
• I hit the Dollar Store for more inspiration, and spot tan, looped brushes that look like the buffer ones in a car wash. I get 10. A little old lady asks if I am planning on doing a lot of cleaning.
• I spend hours cutting up felt strips and figuring out how to attach them and everything else to the wagon. Hardest part: the duct tape. It keeps getting stuck to itself, my shirt, my fingers.

And then, the reveal. Dave and I hauled the car wash to Max's school on Thursday, because a local Embassy Suites hotel was hosting a party for the kids in his school, their 19th year of doing this. I thought Max might sit in the car wash and we could wheel him around, but, noooooo. This is exactly what happened when he saw it:



Max had a blast at the party, the first year he was ever brave enough to venture inside.

It helped that his BFF, a pirate, was there.

Various companies—including Colgate-Palmolive, Cadbury North America, American Express Travel, Coca Cola, Kraft, Pfizer and Verizon—set up Halloween scenes in 16 rooms and gave out goodies.

Max wheeled the cart everywhere, insisted on eating lunch in the hotel bar (though we wouldn't let him order a martini), and also got to ride in one of the hotel's vans.

The next day was our town's annual Halloween parade. In recent years, we've given up on going with Max, as the crowds are too much for him. But he said he wanted to go. Turned out he had an ulterior motive.

He dragged us to the ice-cream store there, and had two cups of chocolate.

Then we wandered around the outskirts of the town's parade, Max pulling his car wash the entire time.

A judge for the costume contest checked out the car wash.

Sabrina dressed up as a car wash attendant. Read: She didn't want to put on a costume and was more than happy to tote around squeegees, eat ice-cream and grub candy.

I dressed up as a suburban mom (read: I wore yoga pants and flats and had my hair in a ponytail). There were lots of creative costumes, including my friend Kristen and her husband, who dressed up as the shower scene in Psycho.

Then Max spotted a car repair shop. And decided his car wash needed tinkering.

Rodney, a mechanic, gave the car wash a tune up.

Max had his eye on some truck wheels but Rodney wisely said, "Sorry, sir, those are too big for your car wash."

And then, an hour later, one of the judges found me and handed me this:

Max's car wash had won Cutest Costume. Only he wasn't there to accept the certificate because he and Dave were long gone. They'd wandered up a nearby street, away from the crowd and noise. Max was having a great time doing his own Halloween thing, as usual, and that was all the satisfaction I needed. Although, yep, it was cool to win, and Max was psyched when I showed the certificate to him. He fell asleep holding it.

On Halloween, he was raring to go trick-or-treating.

The car wash held up pretty well.

Sabrina dressed up as iCarly.

Max decided to act scary, like the pumpkins.

He only took candy wrapped in purple or brown wrappers.

And he made friends with a ghost.

I fully expect him to wake up tomorrow and want to take the car wash to school. I'm not dismantling that thing anytime soon, both because I want him to keep enjoying it and taking it apart will be very boring.

What kind of fun did your kids have? Anyone want a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup? Snickers? Nerds? What's your poison?