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Halloween always seems an overwhelming scramble to me. I like it, but.
I left work early, picked up the Dillo and was home by 4. We carved the pumpkins, got the kids dressed - Dillo in a hand-me-down puppy suit and Casper in her witch outfit with green face paint - and crossed the street to the park for the festivities. As usual we were among the first, but got to watch them trickle in. There's a huge number new new families and new babies I don't know. I just don't spend the long hours at the park that I used to when Casper was Dillo's age. Costumes included lots of baby chicks (I recognized many outfits from Old Navy), many witches, and a variety of other things. Not a lot of superheroes this year, and reduced princesses. Top awards from me: Smokey and the Bandit; a T-Rex; an older girl (like, 10) in a Paperbag princess costume. Gabriel (also about 10, our neighbor) was a pimp, and I'm shocked his total lefty parents let him. His brother Elijah seems to be too old now for the neighborhood Halloween stuff. And Jessica and Nicole (also neighbors) were there but not in costume. People get older! Sample photos here and following: http://www.flickr.com/photos/casperflea/1811437314/
Home, quick dinner, and the trick or treaters started coming at 6pm, when it was still broad day. We ran out of candy at 7:15 after 3 bags full, and I closed down, but there was a lot of noise of people passing well past 8pm; we could have handed out twice as much. A programmer in our neighborhood put up a web page where people can enter their addresses and candy counts, which is fascinating for those who know my 'hood. Monmouth is where it's at. http://c.oloss.us/kidcounts/ A friend who lives on Club (in another neighborhood) had the following historical tally:
2001 - 404
2002 - 536
2003 - 641
2004 - 741
2005 - 809
2006 - 867
2007 - 954
It's insane over there.
mr. flea took the Dillo and Casper out to our block, and then left Dillo home with me while he took Casper over to Monmouth and Watts. Dillo ate a bag of M & Ms doled out three at a time, and helped me distribute some candy at the door. He got a Milky Way from the bowl and walk walking around with it saying, "more!" I did not give it to him, despite his very cute bagging face. The fact that he even got M & Ms is indicative of the fact that he's the second child; Casper had to wait until she was 2 to get candy at Halloween.
Casper and mr. flea had fun, and ran into her teacher Mrs. B and her husband, who were taking Alejandro, one of her classmates, trick or treating. A nice thing to do. I like Mrs. B a lot - a friend of ours knows her from their church, and she seems to be very community-centered and a great person (her husband too). Casper was excited (mr. flea calls it "twinkletoes") between houses and then very shy at the actual doors. She went to bed fairly easily, though, and not much later than the usual time.
This morning, of course, we had the hideous whining and begging for candy. I explained our plan - one treat a day at dinnertime - and told her this was how it was when I was a kid. This helped, I think. Still expect more whining later. As I left she was sitting on the toilet trying to produce a poop in order to earn a candy reward!
I left work early, picked up the Dillo and was home by 4. We carved the pumpkins, got the kids dressed - Dillo in a hand-me-down puppy suit and Casper in her witch outfit with green face paint - and crossed the street to the park for the festivities. As usual we were among the first, but got to watch them trickle in. There's a huge number new new families and new babies I don't know. I just don't spend the long hours at the park that I used to when Casper was Dillo's age. Costumes included lots of baby chicks (I recognized many outfits from Old Navy), many witches, and a variety of other things. Not a lot of superheroes this year, and reduced princesses. Top awards from me: Smokey and the Bandit; a T-Rex; an older girl (like, 10) in a Paperbag princess costume. Gabriel (also about 10, our neighbor) was a pimp, and I'm shocked his total lefty parents let him. His brother Elijah seems to be too old now for the neighborhood Halloween stuff. And Jessica and Nicole (also neighbors) were there but not in costume. People get older! Sample photos here and following: http://www.flickr.com/photos/casperflea/1811437314/
Home, quick dinner, and the trick or treaters started coming at 6pm, when it was still broad day. We ran out of candy at 7:15 after 3 bags full, and I closed down, but there was a lot of noise of people passing well past 8pm; we could have handed out twice as much. A programmer in our neighborhood put up a web page where people can enter their addresses and candy counts, which is fascinating for those who know my 'hood. Monmouth is where it's at. http://c.oloss.us/kidcounts/ A friend who lives on Club (in another neighborhood) had the following historical tally:
2001 - 404
2002 - 536
2003 - 641
2004 - 741
2005 - 809
2006 - 867
2007 - 954
It's insane over there.
mr. flea took the Dillo and Casper out to our block, and then left Dillo home with me while he took Casper over to Monmouth and Watts. Dillo ate a bag of M & Ms doled out three at a time, and helped me distribute some candy at the door. He got a Milky Way from the bowl and walk walking around with it saying, "more!" I did not give it to him, despite his very cute bagging face. The fact that he even got M & Ms is indicative of the fact that he's the second child; Casper had to wait until she was 2 to get candy at Halloween.
Casper and mr. flea had fun, and ran into her teacher Mrs. B and her husband, who were taking Alejandro, one of her classmates, trick or treating. A nice thing to do. I like Mrs. B a lot - a friend of ours knows her from their church, and she seems to be very community-centered and a great person (her husband too). Casper was excited (mr. flea calls it "twinkletoes") between houses and then very shy at the actual doors. She went to bed fairly easily, though, and not much later than the usual time.
This morning, of course, we had the hideous whining and begging for candy. I explained our plan - one treat a day at dinnertime - and told her this was how it was when I was a kid. This helped, I think. Still expect more whining later. As I left she was sitting on the toilet trying to produce a poop in order to earn a candy reward!