I have a stash of costumes in a drawer that my mom and grandmother made for me when I was a kid, and this year my construction-obsessed little boy decided he wanted to be a pumpkin. When I told my friends about it a few weeks ago, one said, "Um, does he actually want to be a pumpkin??"

Turns out not so much. Thank god we had that firefighter costume from two years ago in reserve. (And as much as I liked the idea of him choosing such a sweet, non-commercial costume, I must admit, once we got it on over his jeans and started stuffing it with batting, it started to seem a bit too small.)

You know what I liked about this last minute change-up? He felt uncomfortable in that pumpkin costume, and he immediately decided not to wear it. No second guessing. No feeling bad for the sad pumpkin. Or for his sad mother in her over-sized, overly jolly pumpkin suit (with tendrils! and a pumpkin leaf headdress!). No sir.

There are lots of things to be learned from children. Their ability to trust their instincts and not over-analyze is something to emulate. And they don't even need a lifehack to know how to do it. (Though if you do, this article makes some good points.)