Halloween is typically a festival-like atmosphere out here in Levittown, PA. There's the in-law family, the fact that some of us work with children, many of us have children, costumes...make up...the whole-9. This year was a very exciting year for Halloween because this was the first year that Christopher would probably "get it"...and by "get it" I mean put it all together that he can get candy merely by being a kid (of course, being cute doesn't hurt either, right?)
Prior to our Halloween pilgrimage, we had to tucker our eldest out to ensure maximum nappage efficiency (MNE). In order to effectively do this, we had to take him outside and let him get in some hard play for an hour or so. We played some baseball, soccer, football, catch, and mowed the lawn. After this fun, he went directly in for his nap, with Daddy pulling his "Nanny 911" treatment, again to ensure MNE. The tactics proved to be a success for Christopher as he did achieve MNE. During all of this, Colleen managed Matthew, who is coming into his own...
We finally get to the point in the day when Christopher and Matthew have to costume up in preparation for the candoblivion that was about to go down. Colleen and I drew straws to decide who would get which kid to costume...Colleen got Matthew, who gave her no problems. I, however, had to go tete-a-tete with a child-samurai...fighting me tooth and nail not wanting to wear his costume. Daddy, however, was determined, and, with some help from Mommy (attempting bribery), defeated the great samurai after close to a 10-minute struggle. "KING KONG AIN't GOT NOTHIN' ON ME!" (not that I should feel any great pride for all but physically abusing my 2 1/2 year old son merely to get him into a costume, but I take victories when I get them as they are few and far between). Christopher was dressed at Mickey Mouse (a fine costume we got from Cindy, a former employee of my mother-in-law's...and it was quite affordable! FREE!) and Matthew was a monkey (equally as affordable as this costume was purchased by my mother-in-law herself...thanks to both Marianne and Cindy).
We did the obligatory family visits, which was bittersweet as we first visited my in-law's home. It was great for them to see the boys in their costumes (Christopher had humbled from his sound defeat merely a few minutes prior to this), but it was sad because we all thought of how, Bob, my father-in-law, would have loved to see the boys in their costumes. Leaving there somewhat somber, we left for Colleen's Aunt Christine's house. Her house is Trick-or-Treat Central. We converged, at some dinner, and began Trick-or-Treating. Christopher was quite skeptic for the first 2 or 3 houses. He didn't get that the candy was to go in his Trick-or-Treat bag and that he couldn't eat the candy yet. He was also skeptical of having to go to random people's homes for these treats. The process noted below.
House 1: Not a fan of the whole process. Would not put the chips in the bag
insisted on holding the candy in his hand and asking for Daddy to
open it.
House 2: Skeptical, but let the hostess put candy in his bag, which he quickly
removed from the bag, asking Daddy to open it immediately. Also
had the problem of having only two hands with which to hold a
Trick-or-Treat bag, a bag of chips, and a full-size Butterfinger.
Opted to hold the Butterfinger.
House 3: Not bashful at all. Knocked on the door after Daddy's suggestion to
do so. Realized that holding the Butterfinger wasn't very practical
and put it in his Trick-or-Treat bag, then offered his hand for the
hostess to place candy...which was promptly put into his bag. After
this, Christopher takes off running as if he's running from the police
to the next house in line...Daddy has to take off running after him.
This behavior continued for the next hour as we were Trick-or-
Treating.
It was a fun night for all of us. Colleen had Matthew in the stroller, who loves to be out for walks regardless...and, thanks to our friend Jen Ramirez, we had a sit-and-stand stroller for the boys. Christopher even took advantage of having the "limo" at the ready towards the end of the night. Don't hate the player, hate the game. The family regrouped at Central...went through candy, left, did some T-orT'ing in our neighborhood (neighbors, one of Colleen's former teachers from grade school, and a co-worker of Colleen), then met up at Uncle Jack's house. We stayed there for about an hour, then came home...put the tuckered out boys to bed, went thought candy (of course we had to sample a few to ensure safety). Overall it was a great night and both boys enjoyed their evenings (although at different levels). It was fun to watch Christopher "get it" so quickly and have so much fun Trick-or-Treating...I can't wait until Matthew "gets it". Regardless, good times were had by all.
