Carnival costume balls, Halloween parties, school theatre performances. These are events which give a lot of parents sleepless nights. The party lasts two or three hours, the prices of the costumes are shocking and they aren't there when we need them the most, and if they are, they all look the same. We don't want to look at pictures with five pink princesses, two Spider-men and three Batmen. Unless our children dig their heels in; in which case, discussion is pointless.

The shops and supermarkets overwhelm us with costumes in high season: Christmas, Halloween, carnival. Then the costumes disappear and we get "a gift" in May from our proud child: "Mum, I will be a crocodile/donkey/panda during a performance on Mother's Day!"

"It sounds great!" ... and we nervously look for a costume on the internet. It is fine if we can find what we need and we also have a chance to receive the shipment on time. It might turn out that the website only has a cat or pig costume and a bear mask that can be delivered within a month. The parent's honour sometimes saves the costume firms. They work all year and have a lot of costumes and masks. Unfortunately, I have the kind of "luck" that if I find something I need, it isn't the right size. I don't like to hire costumes. I don't have any friends who work for a hire firm, and my confidence in the cleanness of the costumes is rather poor. I can't imagine that in the high season the costumes are cleaned after every user. Also, sometimes I feel sorry for children dressed in hot costumes when it is above 25 C in the classroom.