No sooner have we put the pool toys away, it seems that we are stuffing our shopping carts full of candy. No sooner have the temps dropped into the 70s, we are carving gourds and developing a taste for all things pumpkin spice. Halloween is here and with twin 6 year old boys it is THE most important thing on the agenda and childhood squared right now.
You gotta love
Fall Weather
The temps are cooler, in that great ” break out the fall sweaters but no need for thermals yet” kind of way. Sunlight is mellow and the sky seems more blue. A leafy smell pervades, along with a hint of woodsmoke, as mother nature slows down. What was that about pumpkin spice?
School Activities
Now that school is in, the kids are busy, busy, busy. They still get outdoor recess. Halloween anticipation is on. There are costume to choose, parades, class parties and fall themed class projects to keep even the most antsy boys on task. Read tired kiddos ready for bed at the end of each day.
The Pumpkin Patch
This is a heap of fun and a right of passage each fall. Nothing beats a pumpkin patch visit, a hayride and the harvest bounty at this time of year.
Other Peoples Decorating
I am no Martha Stewart, so I love to walk around the neighborhood and enjoy other folks creative talents from ghosts to ghouls, lights and even large inflatable pumpkins .
Other people’s costumes
Not being a dressing up kind of mummy, unless it is Chanel, I do enjoy other Mummy’s featured looks. There are some incredibly talented and creative costumes out there. Thank you ladies for bringing your A game to the table.
Trick or Treating
It is just flat out heart warming to watch the kids get dressed up, compare costumes and enter into the dizzy realm of make believe for a night.
But wait, You gotta hate
Fall Weather
Argh! It suddenly hits below 60 degrees. Fall sweaters are the precusor to winter’s thermals and the brutal reality of cold weather and dark evenings.
School Activites
Trying to remember all of the activities at school puts the most organized of mummys in a tail spin. Supplies for fall crafts, fall library books, halloween costumes, parades and parties keep Amazon afloat and that is before the plethora of fall and winter birthdays!
Pumpkin Patch
Any time you load boys in to a car on the pretense of an outing, it can be a recipe for disaster. There will be fights (boys), there will be swears (Mummy) and someone will invariably get car sick. They will argue over who gets to play where and what first, who has picked the best pumpkin and who sits where on the hay ride and beyond. There are no limits on what is tantrum worthy!
Other Peoples Decorating
The pressure is on and rivals christmas. Giant spiders hang in hammock like cobwebs, aerial witches fly through the trees and outdoor lighting resembles the Griswoalds at Christmas, only all in orange.
Other Peoples Costumes
I hate the idea of choosing a costume. The very though fills me with anxiety. I can never choose anything. Should I go chic and fashionable, irreverent, fun, tasteful, sexy,memorable, warm and Cozy? It is a mummy minefield. The pressure is intense and the choices best left to mummy professionals. Cosequently, I am that mummy on the side lines, dressed in jeans, admiring all my more adventurous and creative friends….
Trick or Treating
The level of dread as kids embrace their costume alter egos (usually fight inspired super heroes) and embark on a parent sanctioned sugar fest is too much. In this age of child safety, it still leaves me flummoxed that 364 days a year we urge our kids not to eat candy and avoid strangers and then on one glorious evening, as it gets dark no less, we urge them, shy of not, to knock on people’s doors and ask for candy ?!!
Love it or hate it, Halloween is the rabbit hole down which we dive into the holiday season. It is fun, it is joyful, but it is peppered with potential pitfalls. Excess is key, but needs to be tempered. Love it or hate it, a crazy schedule needs to be managed, so the kids get much needed down time. Love it or hate it, dressing up is fun but not at the expense of kids whos costumes aren’t deemed so cool. Love it or hate it, parties, cakes and way to much candy are fine, but not to the point of a sugar coma. Love it or hate it, halloween will be over in one twitch of a witches cat’s tail. Mark your calendars. On November 1, the costumes will be passé, the candy super cheap and christmas stuff plentiful. Ah ha , onwards and forwards. Shopping anyone?
There is also pumpkin carving pressure: happy face, grimace, horrified, etc. trying to agree on which emotion to carve out and arguing over who has to scape out pumpkin guts. (Ewww, damp and nasty!!). All part of the fun and find memories. 🎃