Halloween

OK, so Halloween didn't turn out exactly as expected. Like most weekends these days, our weekend was crazy busy. I'm embarrassed to tell you what all it included, let's just say I'm counting down the days until 2 sports of Jonah's are over for the season. That will free up about 7 hours EVERY WEEKEND for one parent and one child in our family. Halloween weekend also involved THREE parties for our kids. And remember when I told you I wasn't sure what we were going to do about Art this term? Well, I figured it out. It's great and free, but it's in Brooklyn. On Saturday. In between about 4 other things. To top off all this regular jazz, I seem to have all these meetings and other things...yikes.
So trick or treating time rolled around. I had just gotten back with Maya from her ballet rehearsal. We had 1/2 hour to get ready to go out. I, in case you can't tell, was a Silly Band Collection. I know, instead I just look like an old, lame hippie that sells burritos at Shakedown Street. Hair that's been parted in the middle so long it isn't ever going to do anything else. But I had a ton of Jonah's Silly Bands safety pinned on, in my hair, up and down my arms. Jonah's costume was particularly rad--Roman Gladiator! Maya had super cute purple and black striped tights and boots that you can't see in this photo. Brett was dressed as a doctor--in hospital scrubs with white sneakers and a stethoscope. We were all set. Except for the Toddler Monster Formerly Known As Peanut (TMFKAP). He was asleep. Way too late in the day. Don't worry, he hadn't been roaming around all over the city all day. He had stayed at home with whichever parent was home at the time. But now we needed to go and he was asleep. So we woke him up. You know when you take a nap too late, and get woken up and you are beyond grumpy? His screaming, tantrum rage fit lasted for the entire 1/2 hour that we had left. So three of us sadly left without him, leaving poor Dr. Brett at home with the beast, mostly because my Silly Bands had taken longer to put on than his hospital pants, and we are nothing, us Spositos, if not fair about time management.
It was very strange to trick or treat without the 3rd kid. But looking back on it, although TMFKAP had taken to trick or treating a couple weeks ago, in the last week he had refused to wear any sort of costume, and he was really afraid of Halloween decorations. So he holed up at home, watched a movie, while Brett probably drank straight shots to tune out the ear splitting screaming (oh, that would have stopped by the time the movie started). Clever TMFKAP--he just sat there, not doing any work, not having to brave the cold winds and the loud subway, and then when the other kids came home with bags of candy, he just helped himself. Candy, and no effort!
To be honest, Halloween is the strangest time of the year here to me. It usually isn't cold yet, or at least it isn't indoors, where most of the trick or treating takes place. In fact if you ever want to be scantily clad in your costume, come here. Even if there's a chill in the air, you can guarantee you'll be sweating on the subway and in the building where you're going. We've done none of the harvest festival type things that I used to love in the NW--pumpkin patches, cider donuts, hay rides, corn mazes. OK, this year Maya and I saw a witch towing 300 lit jack-o-lanterns across the Harlem Meer at dusk. That was cool. But I miss neighborhood trick or treating and all that goes with it. Kids can trick or treat ALL DAY LONG up and down Broadway. Seriously. We tried it in the early afternoon. You go into a shop or restaurant or dry cleaner and just trick or treat. Crazy. There are so many people here who have experience in some type of performing arts, that many, many adults go to great, elaborate lengths with full face make up, wigs, etc. for their costumes. There are lots of adult parties, and it is just a completely different holiday here, one for which I don't really feel I "get" the scene. Halloween leaves me missing the NW more than any other time of the year. Especially this year, since Simon and Brett ended up stuck at home. It just felt a bit melancholy. I think that's just me though--the kids seemed to have a lot of fun. Trick or treating indoors has it's benefits--if it rains, no matter. No coats needed, no adult chaperones, really, if you choose a nice building.
Hopefully TMFKAP will participate next year too.