Who is this Iron Man anyway??

...and why in the bloody hell can't I find his damn costume?

So, we're getting ready for Halloween around here, which entails the loathesome trip to the specialty store laden with every princess, witch, clown, grim reaper, zoo animal and super hero costume ever created. That is, except for Iron Man. Which happens to be the only costume my six year old son, Jake, has his entire hopes and dreams on having for the big Trick or Treat night. I actually have lost count on how many stores we've perused in search of a size large Iron Man costume. The first couple of stops didn't discourage me. "How many little boys honestly are dressing up as Iron Man this year?", I asked myself. Uh, evidently every single one within 20 miles of the greater metro area, because by store number seven, reality start to set in and I realized that it was time for some savvy negotiations. Do you know how hard it is to make Darth Vader or a Storm Trooper more appealing than Iron Man? Getting this kid to give up the location of WMDs would be an easier task than convincing him of a costume other than Iron Man. He's not whiny or defiant about it. He just very clearly knows what he wants and isn't willing to compromise and choose another lesser superhero. I didn't realize there was a heirarchy of superheroism, but evidently there is, and let me tell you - Iron Man rules supreme this year.

So, what does an intelligent, sane mom do? Does she sit down her child and explain the poorly executed supply/demand position on Iron Man costumes and talk him into another costume? Does she take this opportunity to teach young Jake the life lesson that we don't always get what we want? Does she firmly tell him to make another decision or miss out entirely on his sixth Halloween?

No, she madly googles, ebays and yahoos her way through the internet in order to find a size large Iron Man costume so that as her sweet, toothless first grader canvases the neighborhood, trick-or-treating in the costume of his hopes and dreams and knows that Iron Man has nothing on Mom - his real superhero!