Packy's Second Halloween

We're three days away from Halloween. In the chapters of my life between childhood and motherhood, I had no need for a frivolous holiday like Halloween. The most I got out of it was the joy of seeing my friends' kids in their costumes when they came to my house to trick-or-treat in my neighborhood. Other than that, I didn't do much to celebrate. The idea of getting all skanked up in a revealing costume and risking claustrophobia and DUIs by going to 6th Street in Austin never once appealed to me. I was the Scrooge of Halloween.

But with little Paxton's arrival, a whole new breath of life has entered my Halloween attitude. As with most things, I tend to go a bit overboard. Last year, I searched online for weeks, seeking costume inspiration for him. He ended up with not one, but three costumes--a spider, a pumpkin and a dragon. Thankfully, there was no shortage of events for him to attend, donning a different costume at each. At the Fall Festival Sarah's church hosted in Denton, he sweated in his pumpkin garb. At the library Halloween storytime, he crawled about in his bulky spider wear. And on Halloween night, we carried him around to trick-or-treat in the giant dragon costume, nearly passing out from the unseasonably hot weather.

I tried to reel it in a bit this year. I limited my shopping to two costumes, telling myself that he could wear one if it was warm (the turtle), and another if it was cool (the giraffe). The problem is that we tried both of the costumes on last week and the turtle costume is just way too small for him. Strangely enough, it's just a vest with a hood. You'd think it would fit, but if I zip it up all the way, his chin disappears into the costume. While it's appropriate for a turtle costume, it simply doesn't look comfortable. He is not a fan of it.

Luckily, he looks cutest in the costume that fits him best. As a fat little giraffe, he's so adorable that I can barely stand up straight. I simply want to roll on the ground, giggling with glee. He seems rather pleased with himself, as well. He happily galloped all around the yard in his costume, pausing only to pull the hood away from covering his face. If this cooler weather continues, he might actually enjoy the trick-or-treating experience this year. And since he still has no idea what candy is, I think I'm ripe to reap the rewards, as well!

As usual, there is no shortage of fun options for celebrating Halloween with a kiddo. There are storytimes at the libraries that focus on books about the holiday. There is trick-or-treating at the library, where the kids dress up and go from station-to-station, collecting fun little toys. One of the families in our Music Together class has a big Halloween party, where the kids get to go "trunk-or-treating", going from car-to-car to pick up goodies. Our local "town square" hosts three-hours of trick-or-treating where the kids can go to the local stores to get goodies. The Great Pumpkin even makes an appearance! The Baptist Church has fun activities for the kids in the evening. And the main street in my neighborhood is the hub of Halloween in our town. Chris and I made the mistake of driving down it to get home one Halloween night before Paxton was born. The number of people clogging the street was breathtaking. I'm not sure we're courageous enough to brave that yet. It's so dark and there are no sidewalks. I'd worry about getting so frazzled from the crowds and risks that I'd ruin everyone's Halloween evening.

I've been checking out Halloween-themed books from the library for a month, trying to get Paxton familiar with the holiday. He now knows the term "trick-or-treat" and he can spot a pumpkin from a mile away. As for the rest of it, I think he's just going to have to wing it as we go. I can't wait to see how he feels about groups of other children, all in costume, swarming the town! It's a magical night to be a kid, and I'm so happy to experience it through my son. He makes everything more fun.