Halloween Trick

I wish I could say that I was an organized mom - all ready with costumes taken in correctly to fit and cameras ready. But that's not the case. Our 2 1/2 year old, Kathryn, decided she wanted to be Dora the Explorer. We bought the costume a month ago - so we did well there. The problem was that the wig wouldn't stay on correctly, so it was aggravating her and only 1 or 2 houses saw her with it on. After that point I carried the brunette wig, and my husband and I sheepishly explained to costume-guessers that Kathryn was really Dora's blond cousin, Lenora. Kathryn was fine with that - she just wanted to see candy magically get dropped in her basket when she said 'trick or treat'. The only problem came when a neighbor dressed as Darth Vader stood at the doorway handing out candy. He wasn't trying to be scary, but it was enough to stop Kathryn in her tracks, and halfway up the driveway is as far as we got on that house.

Sarah, our 1 year old, was going to be a frog. I put the costume on her the night before and it was just too long - the right size - but too long. Am I a seamstress? No. Do I wish I was? Yes. Was there time to do anything about the problem? No. Sarah was uncomfortable and with the temps as warm as they were it just didn't seem like the way to go. Enter the USC cheerleading outfit. We bought it for fun, now it became her costume, and that worked well. She didn't understand much about what went on, but she enjoyed getting out to walk and carry a basket. Leaves, rocks, sticks - she appreciated seeing those things more than the candy, I think!

We had a good hour or so of going house to house before a light shower began. I had a sneaky feeling the rain would come back, and it did. We visited a few more houses and then tried to walk as efficiently as we could with a 2 1/2 year old and a 1 year old to the car. Kathryn tripped and skinned her knee. Thankfully a very nice neighbor not only gave her candy, but also a Scooby Doo bandaid. We appreciated that very much. We arrived home and managed to convince Kathryn to only eat one candy and be happy about it. Since then they've forgotten about the candy altogether. Sure wish I could!! Hope your halloween was fun and safe - we'll hope for a drier one next year!