Final Thoughts

4th and Final Week of October - How do I feel about Halloween?

What a broad question, let me narrow it down a bit.  

How do I feel about.....

School Halloween Carnivals - 1st thought that comes to mind, claustrophobic. Millions of little creatures running around from ring toss, to cake walk to throwing stinky old bean bags in old trash cans.  Do I like this?  I must!  I have some weird belief system that every elementary age child should attend their Halloween School carnival, maybe I was forced as a child to attend them and I thought they were a rite of passage in order to grow-up.  Anyhow, I alone drug my children to the annual school claustrophobic cafeteria.  I fed them nachos and cotton candy for dinner, I gave them cupcakes for dessert and I bought them tickets to win handfuls of dollar store breakable toys!  I mingled with mothers who also were faking smiles and fun times and I even found myself cheerful without a bit of anxiety.  

Anxiety in my formal life could have been brought on by Braden dressing himself in non-matching clothes before we left.  We all know that he only wears "soft shorts and t-shirts".  I didn't pick a fight because I knew that his outfit for the evening would soon be covered by his Buzz Lightyear costume that he brought with him out of the dress up bin.   My anxiety could have been triggered because he refused  to wear the fireman costume he picked out for Halloween because it suddenly became too scratchy and he would not even dream of putting it on his "imaginary delicate skin, the skin that if touched by anything besides basketball shorts causes him to roll around on the floor moaning and crying!    These are things that could have stopped me in my tracks but come rain or shine or 3 year old... my 8 year old son would attend his School Carnival, because you have to, right?

Jake and his fellow Harry Potter seem to be enjoying themselves, right?

Braden is crouched down and no one knows that he doesn't match and that he forgot to put underwear on, right?  

I look happy and seem to have complete control over my three children, right?

So if the answer to all of these question is yes...  I must say that all in all  the Halloween School Carnival was a success and I will probably go next year too!

How do I feel about Parent Helper day at preschool? 

 This is an easy one, I love helping at school.  I love to help not because I am a super volunteer, not because I feel it completes me to do service for others, or even that it checks off something on a list I said I would do when I became a mother.  I go and help because I am CURIOUS 

(some people call it nosy)!  

I love to see the kids my little ones choose to play with, I love to see how my kids act when someone else is in charge.  I love to watch my kids behave and remember their manners, something I never see often enough at home.  I love to watch them smile when I walk in the door and even run up to give me a hug with friends watching.   They are all very selfish reasons for helping but I never claimed to be woman of the year or mother of the century for that matter.  

I just claim to be a little bit nosy, it seems to work for me!

 Look how happy Braden is that I am parent helper for the day?  He really was happy and gave me lots of hugs and kisses he was just not happy that his Buzz costume was hot!  (The costume lasted about 30 min.  way longer than I would have bet).

Still super happy!  He smiles from the inside out that's why you can't see it!

(Loved pin the nose on the Jack O Lantern, loves to sing Halloween songs, by far the cutest little singer in the world).  

Next question........  How do I feel about Trunk Or Treat?

I grew up in a time that trunk or treat was not necessary. In my day as soon as you were old enough to walk without falling you were sent out with older brother  and a pillowcase and trick or treated all the neighborhoods.  It didn't matter where you went or if your costume was really that great.  All the porches with lights on were safe and the ones with the lights off were to scary anyways.  It didn't matter if your costume was that cool either, because where I grew up it was usually freezing on Halloween.  Even though my Punk Rocker Punky Brewster costume handmade from my mom from a bunch of high quality DI clothes  rocked,  it was usually covered up by my parka to keep me from freezing to death.  All of us knew where the rich people lived, (the ones that gave out full size candy bars and we trekked it to neighborhoods all over the town).    

How does this relate to Trunk or Treat?  Well, the thought of sending Jake out with his friends and a pillowcase scares me to death.  So even though I hate to admit it I am somewhat appreciative of loving families backing their cars up to the sidewalk and handing out mounds of candy to my children.  With this being said, would I ever give up trick or treating all together??  No way!  My kids will always go from house to house sporting a much trendier plastic pumpkin not a pillowcase and I will always accompany them until it becomes not cool and then I will hang on the sidewalk until that becomes a bother to them and then I will park at the end of the street and watch them safely from afar.   Trick or Treat will always be a positive event for me even if it is changed a bit.

Now that is a bunch of cutie patooties!  

Even Braden had just the right amount of soft clothes underneath to make Buzz feel just right.  Well for the 1st 10 minutes.  But hey we are improving!  

Are ballerinas supposed to drool all over themselves? 

Miss Layla, we will need to work on ballerina femininity.

With easy going Hippies for parents who needs to worry. Halloween is totally rad!

Last but not least how do I feel about Halloween Candy?

I love it!  I hate to admit it but I love it!  I am the girl who after trick or treating sorted all of my candy into piles (you know, you did it too).  The miniature candy bars, the suckers, the sour candy, the licorice, the taffy,  the caramels if you were lucky and then the pile of weird taffy wrapped in black and orange paper that either tasted like black licorice or some kind of peanut butter.  My piles were my treasures and I carefully chose and traded with my brother and sisters.  I schemed I manipulated but I always ended up with a bigger pile of miniature candy bars than anyone else.  I traded the yucky pile (jaw breakers, smarties and hard unidentifiable  stuff two at a time for those little candy bars).   I have a soft spot in my heart for Halloween Candy, even though you can buy it all year long it just tasted better when it came from hard work and a pillowcase.  

Oh how I would love to get my hands on a pile like this!

Happy Halloween and on to my next favorite holiday, Thanksgiving!