Kids in their fancy dress get-ups - can you make them any cuter? Children adore wearing fancy dress as for that moment in time they have become, in their wildest dreams, the very character who they have seen umpteen times on their favourite recording of a film or TV program.
For kids, fancy dress costumes mean a re-enactment of the most exciting adventures with impossible acts of bravery and daring do.
Their has to be an element of magic, exceptional super powers bought on by some sudden mutation or Bond-like gadgetry to further fire up and extenuate the experience.
In fact the only difference with children and adults is that we have inhibitions and thankfully kids don't and that's a trait we find adorable.
Kids turn their wild dreams into reality through play and they become their heroes.
As you get older those dreams become aspirations and those heroes are "role models" and naturally adults don't run around the mainsail with a sword clenched between their teeth.
Parents take great pleasure in watching their little ones act out scenes from films that they have had to watch over and over again but as we know this expression of imagination running riot is a fundamental part of every child's natural development and it will keep him or her in good stead when dealing with real situations and people later on in life.
Of course there are those of us who carry on for most of our lives dressing up and pretending we're someone who we're not but who we would like to be.
This adult role model might not be a Cinderella or a Buzz Lightyear but nevertheless it could be some figure with enduring appeal..
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actually it could be Cinders or Buzz too.
For a kids fancy dress outfit the choice is staggering and if it was up to a parent to pick one then you would have a hard job but fortunately you really don't have to heed too closely to what the little ones are watching and enjoying besides their screams of joy will tell you.
If you are buying a costume for that special event in the distant future because you are oh so organised then just be reminded that their hero-worship can sometimes be short-lived and Snow White might become Lady Gaga.
Especially with the advent of computer generated graphics there are loads of crazy cartoons and films coming out more often than not based on fantastical fiction crammed with mythical creatures, vampires, wizards, unnatural pirates and so on and these go down a storm with children who then have a ton of characters to emulate.
For children, fancy dress costumes have never been more abundant as the means for producing them have been made easier with cheaper materials and manufacture.
The choice for a kid's fancy dress costume essentially revolves around their perceptions as to who they are in their dreams.
For adults "in your dreams" means something less fanciful but I don't doubt that given a portion of courage, Dutch or some other, I'm sure would love to become a fictional character even if it was just for a party or some other excuse to don an adult fancy dress costume.