Halloween Hangover

I have always enjoyed holidays, but I think once you have kids there is a lot more pressure on you to really get into the spirit so that they can start to appreciate holidays as well.  I figured Halloween was an easy sell.  Ryann would get to walk around after dark up to strangers’ houses and get free candy from them.  What is not to love?

We invited friends and family over around 3:30 for white chicken chili and appetizers so that the grandparents could see the kids in their costumes and Matt could see some people outside of the working world on his first day off in a few weeks[1].  Ryann, of course, took a longer nap than usual, and as part of some twisted plot to destroy me, everyone showed up around 3:30.[2]  I was upstairs nursing Matthew, Ryann was sleeping, and none of the snacks had been set out yet.  I would have had it all set, but Ryann wanted a Dora pumpkin and that took me longer than I expected to create.[3]

Ryann woke up in a bad mood[4] and didn’t want to put her costume on.  I finally convinced her[5] to get ready and she headed back downstairs and really enjoyed herself for the remainder of the evening.  She trick-or-treated with the neighbor, visited with her best girlfriend, and slept like a baby.  Besides Ryann dealing with a little bit of an upset stomach[6] I think that she really enjoyed her first “official” Halloween. 

Now I have a few weeks to decide how I am going to turn myself into a sweaty mess on Thanksgiving.  Maybe we will try shopping that morning for an outfit!

---

[1] Guess my “honey do” list can wait a while longer. Grrrrrr……

[2] This is unheard of in my family.

[3] All morning.

[4] BIG SURPRISE.

[5] Through an assortment of bribes and threats

[6] Which includes filling diapers with flesh-eating diarrhea