Cartoon characters may be all the rage in Israel for Purim, but I’ll tell you what, a plastic Spongebob cape is not gonna fly for my kids at the synagogue’s Megillah reading. What kind of neurotic Jewish mother would I be if I made it as simple as buying some leftover Halloween schlock Wal-Mart? I couldn’t take the guilt.

When I was a girl, there was none of this commercial nonsense on Purim: You wrapped some tulle around your waist and put on too much of your mother’s blue eyeshadow and you were Queen Esther, no fussing allowed. (Your idea to go naked under a bathrobe as Vashti was shot down three years in a row.)

Your brother had two choices: He could make a robe out of some hideous sheet and use your mom’s brown eyepencil and make a goatee to be Mordecai, or take her mascara, brush on a Hitler moustache and don a three-cornered hat made out of construction paper and a thousand staples to be Haman. Things were simple back then.

But my daughter has been wearing her Wonder Woman costume for five straight days (to school, to the grocery store, out to dinner, over her pajamas.) I may have to explain that Queen Esther is feeling a little superheroine-ish these days. *Sigh* Yet Another Bad Jewish Mother Moment.

(For those scrambling for ideas to wear to this weekend, check out Aish’s suggestions for easy, no-sew costumes.)