Our Own Little Horror Story

Let me start by explaining that I am not particularly pro- or anti-Halloween. It happens. There is candy. As long as I’m not expected to dress up, I don’t have much of a problem with the whole thing.

This may explain why this is the first year Graham got to dress up even though it’s technically his 3rd Halloween.

I figured he was now old enough to at least find some interest in Halloween, despite the fact that he’d have no real comprehension of what was going on. So Eric and I set about putting a plan in motion.

First came the costume, of course. While I don’t have firm opinions about Halloween itself, I have some rather firm opinions once we’ve committed to it. For example, no store-bought costumes. I never had one, so it’s not really how the holiday works for me.

My inspiration for the idea came from this:

Since last year I’ve been thinking “ghost,” because I think it’s impossibly adorable when the Bug walks around under a blanket. It wasn’t like we were going to put a sheet on the Bug and call it a day, but we wouldn’t have to do too much more than that.

I fashioned the outfit.

A white shirt on clearance from Old Navy. A king-size white pillowcase from Target. Some scissors. The end.

Then Eric worked his special magic.

Needle, thread, batteries, LED lights. Soon we had a glowing Bug on our hands.

The Bug was cool with it. Though not interested enough to keep him from eating some bananas.

Voila! A little ghost.

I wasn’t sure the Bug could actually handle door-to-door so we did a warm-up with the indoor trick-or-treat at the mall. Unfortunately, Eric was working so me and my pregnant self was on solo Bug-wrangling duty. Usually a manageable task, but it was a little more difficult with the crowds of rabid children.

The Bug did pretty well. He put stickers on a pumpkin.

He walked around with his bag and once or twice he managed a “trick or treat.” It took him a while to figure out the candy went in his bag. When he got the basic idea, he tried to give the candy from his bag to the people who had their big bowls to hand out.

Obviously, at this point, he hadn’t yet EATEN any candy or he would have known better.

I, being a brilliant genius, forgot my camera. So I had to do my best to get a Little Ghost photo shoot with my phone in a corner. It didn’t work too great.

As usual, the photo shoot did not last long.

The Bug started to get a little antsy and I started to feel completely starved so we stopped for a snack.

I hoped that would perk us both up a bit. But it backfired. The Bug began his throw himself on the floor like he’s sliding into home base game. And having to bend over, pull him up and keep my hands on our bags was not really fun. So we headed back to the train, then back to the car and headed home. Once Daddy showed up on the scene, the Bug got his first lollipop. And once we hit that point he became much more excited about the idea of candy. (It seems someone has inherited his father’s sweet tooth.)

That left the big day, Halloween.

Once again, I could give or take the day, but I have some quirks.

Every year I buy candy. Every year I get two trick-or-treaters max. But this year I knew would be different. Our neighborhood is set up like a long row of townhouses. Lots of doors close together. Well lit. Lots of kids. Prime trick-or-treating location.

I’ve been stocking up on candy (on sale and with coupons!) so I was more than ready. I was going to pick up the Bug early so we’d get home in time for the early birds. The Bug would help me hand out candy in costume. (Assuming we could get him to part with it.) It was going to be your standard at-home Halloween.

That was when the horror began.

I left work early to pick up the Bug. I drive to daycare, leave my car there (free parking!!) and then take 2 buses to work. So I took my 2 buses to get back to daycare only to realize that I’d left my car keys in my locker. Back at work.

That was when our journey began. Picked up the Bug. Walked past our car. Got on 2 buses. Headed back to work.

By then it was past 5 and the trick-or-treaters were already coming out. I could just imagine the kids knocking on our door and getting no answer. The Bug was the only kid not in costume.

So I just imagined that in his little hoodie he was Elliott from E.T.

(Note he has yet another lollipop in his hand. This kid is going to be tough.)

Luckily the Bug likes buses. And luckily it was much warmer on Monday than it was over the weekend. Once we finally made it back to the hospital and I got my keys, we met up with Eric for our 2 buses back to daycare. (Yes, that makes 8 buses I took on Monday. A new record, surely.)

It was already dark when we got in the car. The streets were swarming with trick-or-treaters. (I can’t remember the last time I saw that! So exciting!) How many kids had we missed? How long would it take us to drive back with all the stop-and-go traffic?

But finally we got there. I dashed in the house. I opened bags of candy. I dumped them in a bowl. I mixed them up. And kids came.

They came! Kids! Asking for candy!

That wasn’t the end of our troubles. The Bug’s costume was nowhere to be found. So no adorable pictures. No Halloween mementos. We were left with some extra candy (mostly Mounds and peanut butter cups, Yes!!) and no good pictures.

I guess we’re working our way up to this stuff gradually.

Related Posts:

• Speaking the Unspeakable
• The Bug and the Bug
• The Bug Crashes the Brunchers’ Birthday