The weather reports all week had said it was going to be cold and rainy on Halloween, and of course it was, because exactly one week before it was 80 degrees and sunny, so I knew it was going to be miserable. Not trying to be a downer, it just seems to work out that way every year – one week before it’s really nice, and then the week of Halloween the temperature drops like 30 degrees.
But the bad weather reports didn’t stop us from our annual Halloween potluck on the court! About a week beforehand we all agreed on what we were going to bring and got everything set. I was in charge of the adult hot chocolate and stew – perfect!
Halloween day I left work early and went right to work making the hot chocolate and heating the stew (I was smart and made it the night before). I felt so good about where we were at…we had gotten costumes early this year, Ryan was the same thing he was last year, and Colton was the third child to wear the Buzz Lightyear costume. Ahhh, little did I know…
I’m not sure if I have documented on this blog the issues that Kylie always seems to have with her costume or not, but I’m going to rewrite about it because I don’t want to forget about this when she’s older. And if, by some chance, she has a daughter that has even ½ as many issues with her costumes as Kylie has, I want to go back and show Kylie that the girl clearly got the issues from her mother :)
I used to pick Kylie’s costumes when she was little. Her first Halloween she was a Princess (that was actually from my mom), and then her second she was an angel/bunny (angel when it was warm and then put the bunny costume on when it turned cold). For her third Halloween, Kylie was Simba from the The Lion King – that was her favorite movie at that time. Her fourth Halloween was the first year she picked what she wanted to be, and that was Deedee Doodle from The Doodlebops. She LOVED that costume and lived in it months after Halloween. Her fifth Halloween she wanted to be Elina from Fairytopia, and again, she loved that costume. Her sixth Halloween she was another type of princess – I don’t remember much about this Halloween (mainly because I had just brought Ryan home from the hospital and was in a newborn haze) but I don’t remember any big issues. Seventh Halloween – this is when it all went downhill…she wanted to be a bride, so we ordered her a bride costume. I ordered her shoes off of ebay, which of course, were a little too big (the girl was having a hard time understanding that when you dressed up, things didn’t usually fit perfectly), and the plan was for her to use my wedding veil. I remember we had a tailgate that day and she fell asleep outside. I had to wake her up to get ready and that was when the drama started – she was a mess! She complained about everything from the shoes to the veil and every time I look at the pictures from that Halloween, I see the tears in her eyes :(
So I learned my lesson – really ensure that Kylie likes her costume! Eighth Halloween she was an OU cheerleader. If I remember right, that went over pretty well – not many complaints. Her ninth Halloween was horrible! We were at Cracker Barrel and their costumes were on sale. I saw this long red velvet red and black dress and showed it to her. She decided she could make that into a vampire-witch thing and we were set. I asked her over and over again before I actually purchased it if she was sure, and she emphatically kept telling me “yes!” Wrongo! She whined about wearing it to school (“the kids will make fun of me”what????) and we scoured the city for vampire teeth, which I found for $22 and which she said hurt and didn’t end up wearing. Horrible!
So this year, we went to the costume store early (like a month before Halloween – that’s unheard of for us!) so that she could take her time and go through the costumes. She tried a few on (the rest would get made fun of according to her) and they were either too itchy or just not working out. I kept telling her that I was not going to buy her a costume unless she was 110% good with it and that meant no crying or complaining at all. She actually left the store without anything with a plan to really think about what she wanted to be.
During the week, she decided she wanted to be a crazy snake-spider lady (I wasn’t asking – this was her costume). She wanted a long-haired wig and a snake to wear around her neck. She and I went back to the costume store and she picked out a wig. She also got some cool tattoos that looked like scratches, and a package of mini-snakes to put in her hair. I ended up ordering her rat and snake from amazon. When we got home, she put the wig on and walked around the house. A couple weeks later her snake and rat came and she was set…or so I thought…
School wasn’t an issue this year (thankfully) – she had a friend help her put on a couple of tattoos and she had her snake and rat…no complaints. But back to Halloween night where I’m getting all the food ready (my goal is to actually be out with the neighbors on time since I’ve never been able to do that) and Kylie is complaining about the wig…”something’s pokey,” “it’s itchy.” I’m beyond frustrated. I work with her trying to put tissues between her scalp and the wig, we try the net thing on and off…I swear we try everything. It still doesn’t make sense, but another Halloween and I’m yelling and she’s in tears; another set of pictures that I will forever be able to see tears in her eyes :(
She finally sucks it up and comes outside to eat (without the snake and rat mind you – another $20 wasted). It’s so hard – I see all these other girls in“normal” costumes having a great time, and yet my daughter has such an issue with this – why???
Kylie finally cheers up a bit and we all head out into the cold rain (did I mention it was raining?) for trick or treating. As usual, the kids and the dads (actually, everyone this time because I’m the only one with a little one) all take off ahead of us. Colton and I slowly go to the houses in the courts around us – me pushing him in the stroller and trying to keep us both as dry as possible. Colton does not say “trick or treat” once! He had been saying it all week and nothing! We circled back towards our house and I had him brainwashed to “eat candy see grandma.” So we went back to the garage with the heater in it and I ate some dinner (didn’t really have time to eat earlier with the whole Kylie situation) and he ate some candy. During this time, I saw John heading back with Ryan (who fell down on his way back :( ). He dropped him off and went to catch up with the others. Kylie was back a short time after that. I took Ryan and Colton in and gave them a warm bath! Mom stayed out with the neighbor who had come back since them and I sat on the couch and watched Monster High with Kylie while Ryan, Colton and Zora played in the basement. Shortly after 8:30, the boys got back and sorted and traded their loot on the kitchen table. They were definitely rewarded for staying out in the cold rain – they had a ton of candy!
After that it was showers and bedtime. I was beat, John was beat, and another Halloween went down in the record books.
