This holiday was no different. I thought to myself a few weeks ago - there's really no need to do too much for Halloween. The kids are still little and they most likely won't keep their costumes on very long, if they even put it on at all.
Xander wanted to be Spider-man. I could justify buying a Spider-man costume because he'll wear it as dress-up - which he has. He loves it! He's worn it around the house many times and loves getting all dressed up. That turned out to be an excellent purchase - but it was a gamble! I really didn't know if he'd wear it or not, and I especially didn't know if he'd wear the mask. But he did and he loves it! Score!
Then there was Amelia Jayne. I wasn't going to buy a costume for her because she's so little and I really had no justification in buying her one. I had gotten her the skirt for her birthday which I thought she might be able to wear and I could somehow spin the whole princess thing. I wasn't quite sure how I was going to do that, but it turns out I didn't do that. I walked into Buy Buy Baby last week and they had all their Halloween costumes on clearance. I was so excited! I got a $45 costume for $12! I was elated. And they made for such cute pictures. I might just put her in it again to see how cute she is. :) She had her costume on for about an hour and a half and kept the hood on the entire time - I was amazed!
A lot happens in a year, right? Who knew a ladybug could turn into a flower??
(Side note: I actually bought her ladybug costume last year for $12 and consigned it for $10. I'm planning on doing the same with the flower. Makes me feel a little better about the purchase. Ha!)
So, the Halloween comes and I think to myself, "David will be home around 5:30, we'll eat dinner and head out to trick or treat around 6:30. We'll be back no later than 7:30 and be in bed close enough to on-time."
David called and said he wouldn't get home til about 6:30. I went ahead and started feeding the kids at 5:30. I thought it would be fun to make a special meal - Xander and I have been reading his Highlights High Five magazine a lot lately and they have a recipe in the November issue for "Turkeys in a Blanket" (Basically turkey hot dogs wrapped in croissants and baked - what we would think of as pigs in a blanket). Anyway, I made those for the kids and made mine and David's meal (not that David would mind Turkeys in a Blanket, but I wanted to do something nicer - we had salmon, Asian cole slaw and homemade mac&cheese. It was yummy!). When David got home at 6:30 I was still struggling with Xander to get him to eat. It's not like I was asking him to eat brussel sprouts and tofu! Any other kid would have been thrilled with hot dogs in croissants and mac&cheese. But not my picky eater. I don't know what his deal was but it took me over an hour to get him to eat one. Sigh. So after the food debacle and Daddy getting home late, I threw on Xander's costume and we started out - around 7:15. Double sigh.
We went to about 10 houses. Xander got some candy, said "Happy Halloween" to all those in earshot, and usually said thank you without too much prompting :) and then we headed over to our neighbors' house. She had come by earlier that evening and dropped off some cupcakes - how thoughtful! We hung out there for about 10 minutes and played with her 16-month old son and enjoyed a short, but nice, visit.
We came home and helped Xander sort through his loot. I let him pick two pieces to try. (He ate a snickers and a butterfinger - chocolate lovers unite!) We rolled around tickling/tackling each other on the floor while Amelia Jayne took the candy out of the bucket and put it back in and took it out and put it back in and...
It wasn't exactly the evening I had in mind.
I certainly didn't get the pictures I wanted. The timing of the evening (and my schedule) was off. There was some discipline and tears involved (every bit of which happened during dinnertime). I was frustrated with Xander, and honestly, with David (not that he can help that he had a deadline, but still). Amelia Jayne sat around in her costume for an hour before we even left.
It was ridiculous.
And fun.
It was ridiculously fun. :)
I don't know why I think things need to be perfect. I want my kids to have good memories and fun times. How fun is it when mom is stressed and frustrated and, at times, downright angry that things aren't going as planned? I'm learning to let go a little bit.
I'm learning:
not to dictate everything.
not to have such high expectations that things can never go perfectly.
to let things be as they will be.
to enjoy the moments and rejoice in the good times that are actually happening - not the ones I'm pining for.
that chances are if I'm looking for moments that aren't happening then I'm missing the ones that are.
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| A little bit wilted... |
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| Checking each other out. |
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| Ringing the doorbell and waiting patiently. |
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| Sorting the candy |
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