Life is Like a Box of Crayons: Halloween 2010
2 Comments posted by Kristi on Monday, November 08, 2010 at 8:00 PM
Because I am nothing short of a genius, I came up with the idea to do the rounds with the relatives on the day before Halloween, rather than the night of.
We've always taken the kids to my grandma's house, my great aunt's house, my MIL's house and my FIL's house, so everyone could see them in their costumes and hand them organic dark chocolate made with low sugar and minimal processing (or, you know, this stuff)
We would make the trip to the other side of the city in late afternoon, catch dinner at one of their houses, and head back home for a little trick-or-treating before we all collapsed in exhaustion around 7:30pm, because even packing up one kid + costume + gear four separate times, in and out of the car, was exhausting. When one became three two year ago, it became a ludicrous situation.
At Nana's
My MIL is awesome. Why, you ask? She asked the hubs what to get the kids for Halloween. The hubs told her to buy them their favorite snack, these CocoPop rice cakes made at our favorite grocery store. So, no sugar overload at Nana's.
Then, it was on to the hubs' dad's house. Luci wandered into the family room and disappeared for a few minutes. When I peeked around the corner to see what she was doing, I found her very quietly and carefully emptying the contents of my FIL's candy bowl into her pumpkin.
After the party, the kids trick-or-treated at a few houses in our old 'hood, including our former neighbors on both sides.
We headed home, about 6:30, and took all three crayons to trick-or-treat at our next door neighbor's house. After that, it was off to bed for Luci and Nicholas.
We've always taken the kids to my grandma's house, my great aunt's house, my MIL's house and my FIL's house, so everyone could see them in their costumes and hand them organic dark chocolate made with low sugar and minimal processing (or, you know, this stuff)
We would make the trip to the other side of the city in late afternoon, catch dinner at one of their houses, and head back home for a little trick-or-treating before we all collapsed in exhaustion around 7:30pm, because even packing up one kid + costume + gear four separate times, in and out of the car, was exhausting. When one became three two year ago, it became a ludicrous situation.The relative visits were still crazy this year (as any holiday with three kids under 4.5 is), but at least at the end of the night, we didn't have to take them trick-or-treating.
Getting ready to go-Nicholas desperately wanted to wear Isabella's red crayon costume, because he has decided that his favorite color is also red.At Nana'sMy MIL is awesome. Why, you ask? She asked the hubs what to get the kids for Halloween. The hubs told her to buy them their favorite snack, these CocoPop rice cakes made at our favorite grocery store. So, no sugar overload at Nana's.
Then, it was on to the hubs' dad's house. Luci wandered into the family room and disappeared for a few minutes. When I peeked around the corner to see what she was doing, I found her very quietly and carefully emptying the contents of my FIL's candy bowl into her pumpkin.
On Halloween, we were invited to a party in our old neighborhood. This was my contribution:
After the party, the kids trick-or-treated at a few houses in our old 'hood, including our former neighbors on both sides.
We headed home, about 6:30, and took all three crayons to trick-or-treat at our next door neighbor's house. After that, it was off to bed for Luci and Nicholas.
The weather turned awful (rain, sleet, and even some wet snow) once the twins were in bed, and Isabella said she only wanted to trick-or-treat at five houses, which is exactly what we did while the hubs stayed home with the sleeping little ones. Then, she was more than content to escape the rain and call it a night.
I was dreading the influx of candy into the house. In past years, Isabella had shown barely a fleeting interest in her candy. Last year, we went to a few houses, but she was more interested in handing out candy than trick-or-treating, and she never asked for any of it once Halloween was over. This year, though, at age 4, I figured she'd be a lot more clued in to her candy, and that the "out of sight, out of mind" tactic I've used for the past three years would not work.
I was thrilled when my friend wrote about ways to deal with the influx of sugar on Spoonfed, an awesome blog that offers great suggestions of ways to help kids make healthy food choices. Her post had some great ideas on ways to ditch the candy, although it turns out I didn't need them.
Our next door neighbor gave the kids a plate of mini cupcakes on Halloween night. That is the only treat she's asked for in the past week. She's eaten two of the cupcakes, and has entirely forgotten about her candy.
I hope your Halloween was a good one!
Oh, and if you haven't yet seen this post floating around, it is worth a read. The blogger writes about her five-year-old boy's unconventional (and female) choice of Halloween costume, and how she dealt with the backlash he received at school. This mom is incredible.
Kristi, I love that pumpkin carrot tray. And those crayon costumes are just awesome. Glad you got to celebrate Halloween your way.
(Thanks for the mention! ;-)
The kids looked great! I love the shot of Luc sneaking candy is too funny.
On the subject of little kids gender bending if you could even call it that, this right here made me pretty happy.