Before I give you all the details of Halloween, let me back up a few days and tell you about “the box”.
Last weekend, Grandma and Grandpa D. visited for the weekend. Grandpa had a new pair of shoes. So, of course, he brought the empty box for Eric. On past visits, Grandma and Grandpa had brought toys and such for Eric, and they used old shoe boxes because they were a convenient size. Eric enjoyed the boxes at least as much as the gifts that were inside. Eric played a game with Grandma and Grandpa by putting a toy inside the box and asking, “What’s in the box?” He then opened the box to reveal the toy. This caused much laughter and entertainment for Eric and his grandparents. On this particular visit, Grandpa brought his empty shoe box for Eric. Eric loved the box. He played with it for hours. Even after Grandma and Grandpa left to go home, Eric kept playing with the box. At one point that evening, he was determined to get in the box. He layed the box flat and sat in it, but he could not close the lid. He stood the box up on end and crawled in, but again, he could not close the lid. Eventually he gave up closing the box and just enjoyed sitting in it.
Tonight, Eric went trick-or-treat-ing for the very first time. Time had crept away from us today, so I was still in the middle of a household project when 5 O’clock arrived. I hurried to finish, at least enough to stop, and started getting Eric into his costume. Mommy was in the kitchen fixing dinner. Eric had just been up from his nap for a short while, and so he was a little cranky. It takes him a while to wake up from his naps. When I asked him if he wanted to put on his costume and go trick-or-treat-ing, he said “no”. So, we started by changing his clothes to wear his black sweat pants and his black sweatshirt. It was cold outside, so we needed to be sure he was warm while walking the neighborhood. After he was dressed, he still was fussing and crying. He did not want to put on his costume. Mommy and I were sure that he would enjoy trick-or-treat-ing and getting all the candy, so we dressed him in his costume anyway. This did not make him happy.
With all the crying and carrying on, I felt guilty making him wear the costume. I asked Mommy, “Is this child abuse?” She could not answer for sure. We went with our instincts and put on our coats to leave the house. Eric continued with his fits. He walked and cried all the way to our neighbor’s house. We rang the bell, and Eric seemed to calm down a little while we waited. When they did not answer (not home), he got upset when we started to leave their driveway. I distracted him by asking if he wanted to go across the street. Two women were sitting in their driveway with a row of Jack-O-Lanterns and some candy bowls. I pointed to them and asked Eric if he wanted to see the Jack-O-Lanterns. He cried, “ye-e-es!” So, we walked over. They were very nice and complimented Eric on his costume. He had stopped crying, but continued pouting. They offered him some candy, and I prompted him to say “trick or treat!” He hesitated, but finally said it. He also thanked her for the candy afterward. By the time we left this first house, Eric had stopped crying and was anxious to “get more candy!”
Eric soon was walking happily from house to house and saying, “trick or treat!” to everyone who answered the door. He always said “thank you” after receiving the candy. He repeatedly told Mommy and I to go to the next house for more candy. At one particular house, the man who answered the door said, “Happy Halloween!” as we were leaving, and Eric replied enthusiastically with the same, “Happy Halloween!” After a few houses, he started saying “we have to go back to work!” as we left each house. This had become serious business for Eric. He was having so much fun!
Mommy and I are glad that we forced him to get started. He really did have fun. His costume was very popular. Everyone made many good comments about it. People were impressed with its originality and of course how cute he was in it! Grandma D. had made this costume about 20 years ago for my niece, who was about Eric’s age at the time. It is a perfect fit for Eric. Many compliments were given to Eric for his costume.
Eric was in a much better mood after trick-or-treat-ing! We can hardly wait for next year!
Here is a picture of our Jack-O-Lanterns sitting across our front porch.
