"Halloween was confusing. All my life my parents said, 'Never take candy from strangers.' And then they dressed me up and said, 'Go beg for it.' I didn't know what to do. I'd knock on people's doors and go, 'Trick or treat. No thank you.'" ~Rita Rudner
The Harvest Day parade at Rhyan's pre-school was such a treat. Everyone at my job comes out of their office to the main drive on campus to support. They rented a train and paraded the kids up and down the street three times! Two times too many since Rhyan cried as soon as he saw mommy and daddy. Prior to that he was waving and smiling like a beauty queen! Daddy went over to him and asked him why he was crying--he said he wanted to go home. Just the sight of us means 'it's time to go home.' Daddy had to remind him that he had so much fun in front of him--including a ride on that train. So that perked him up big time!
But when he saw the train--which I guess in his little head was supposed to be Thomas the Train, he was sorely disappointed. "That ain't no Thomas train!" he yelled. Daddy, who is always quick on his feet, told him it was Thomas' brother. Wow, I would have never thought of that :-) It worked and Rhyan's class got to ride the train for three go rounds since they waited the longest to ride. So I'm standing there in the hot sun with a big belly and the wrong shoes on. It was worth it because we had one happy little toy soldier on our hands.
And having Daddy there made parting so sweet. Usually when there is a mid-morning program and it's time to say bye, Rhyan is clingy and begging me not to leave. Daddy told him we'd see him later and he ran to me gave me a kiss and said, "See you later mommy," and just ran off with his class. What is it about Daddies that they have that magic power!
Later that night, he transformed into SpiderBoy! My sister was ready to take him out at around 7pm, but there was not a kid in sight. Walking up and down the block to see what porch lights were on did not sound appealing to me, so my sister suggested driving around to see where the hot spots were in our neighborhood. It worked! And after about two houses Rhyan got the hang of trick-or-treating. He was a bit frightened by a woman in a wolf mask who was sitting outside her door waiting for kids to come by. He was so hesitant to go up to her and she didn't help things by just sitting there saying nothing. I mean, heck, I was a little scared! Don't do that to little kids!
Surprisingly, our little one has not even asked for a piece of candy. Yet, I've already been digging through his bag for all the tootsie rolls I can get. Bad, bad mommy! Overall, a good day and night--but I wore myself out and had to stay home and rest today.
In other news, I've decided to jump in and join NaBloPoMo - National Blog Posting Month. So I'm supposed to post EVERY DAY for the month of November. I'm hoping it will stretch the way I see my life and help me to find a story in the everyday-ness of life.