Halloween Season is wrapping up
but fall is not yet over!
it is true Halloween is a season where the climax is Halloween Night
it is tough to stretch Halloween a day past Halloween Night
sure we still have ghosts and gobblins decorating the family room
and it may be weeks before the pumpkins have decayed enough that I see reason to remove them from decorating our front porch
Halloween season which is very similar to cyclocross season in that it starts earlier for some than for others
my boys are within the group of people who start Halloween season early
that how long till halloween question comes before CVS starts with its halloween season sales
each year we prematurely agree to purchase a halloween costume
that costume is worn and torn and more than likely ruined or forgotten by the time Halloween Night arrives
this year was no different
there was a change of command
boys went from classic superheros to ninjas and then half of the crew went back to superheros again
there was the purchase of halloween costume weapons to enhance the ninja costume
there was the purchase of halloween costume weapons that had nothing to do with the ninja costume
there were various halloween themed parties and various halloween themed days
there were afternoons in the alley where boys would rush back inside to grab their costume because they saw a friend wearing theirs
there was talk of the actual costume for the actual night
but these decisions are not final
even the option to dress as death is not written in stone
not even a grave stone
in the days leading up to Halloween Night proper I tried to get things sorted out
I poured out the two bins filled with various Halloween costumes of various sizes in various states of disrepair
first superheros were bunched with superheros
while free floating masks went with free floating masks
cowboy helmets and construction hats were immediately tossed back into the bin knowing that these options were not part of the current top options
there was talk and then there was confusion
in the end nothing was settled
the only answers I got were the answers of the moment
this same process was repeated in different incarnations as the week counted down to Friday
no resolve on Wednesday had me ending the discussion with talk of purchasing some face paint
the boys love face paint
the next night while Dean worked on his homework I set up the trail-a-bike to head over to the New Target in Columbia Heights
it was more a matter of something to do
a good way to distract the little brother from the older brother who needs to focus
so... with helmet and garb we got on the bike with an assortment of lights and a helmet in the bag
our trip to Target was a lesson in procrastination
the lesson of procrastination was repeated on our walk from mid block Target to the corner CVS
both stores had Halloween isles filled with mobs of people while being devoid of anything Halloween
Grant and I rode back home empty handed
the few partial items did justify a trip to the register
I was confident that I could get the face paint and halloween color hair spray the following day at lunch
the day worked out such that there was no issue with getting out a tad early to start getting ready for Halloween
I came home to a house full of boys
they were wild... they were tearing the place up
I was afraid they were going to burn out before the night began
so I made the deal... you guys clean up this room and I will put in a movie
there was agreement
there was hesitation
there was guidance on my part
then there was an uproar when I told them I would choose the movie
they wanted Sky High... I wanted to be halloween themed
I did not want to risk things with The Pumpkin Circle
not having A Nightmare Before Christmas
I then remembered I had a cartoon with these spooky brother and sister who are pulling Halloween pranks all year round
this hit the spot as I prepped for suiting the boys up for the evening's adventure
dean was still in agreement that he would be DEATH with all Black garb and a store bought skull coated syckle
this allowed me to paint a skull on his face
grant had been pleased with the notion of something cool which I had morphed into him being the incredible hulk
Grant was in a mood... my fear of burn out had come too late
a child above the age of naptime needed a nap
when I tried to get the Spiderman with muscle costume on so I could have him wear larger size clothes for hulk-like muscles I lost the battle before putting any paint on his face
he was all mood and all no
there was no reason to wrestle him
so I bumped Dean up in the queue
Dean was worried that he would mess the makeup when he ate pizza
which had him requesting to be painted after dinner
to which I had to assert that dinner would blend into rushing out the door which would allow no time for face painting
dean sat down a tad rushed
but relaxed comforably into the process
as I painted black around the eyes and black around the teeth I spoke about the first draft the touch up and the final draft
dean took breaks to look at himself in the mirror
he liked the results and grew more and more excited
others gathered around the process
Sammy was so close I had to sit him in a chair where he was not in the way
then I had to break to spray color into some other children's hair to complete some more simple tasks and some more simple processes
a simple white and black face painted skull was made complete with some silver covered hair
DEAN WAS PLEASED!
but I had to keep my promise to cut his pizza so he could eat it with a fork so that he did not mess up his make up
grant was still not ready for face painting and not interested in negotiation
there was talk of painting a batman face... but I was not clear what he meant
since was already wearing a batman mask/cape combo that covered the top of his head
once I painted another face and spray colored a few more heads the boys were out the door gathering at one of the houses on the block for pizza
I got ready myself and handed out some candy while the boys did some local trick or treating before marching up towards Lamont Street
the evening has great energy
the evening is filled with chaos
we left as a group and split from the group early
it was too hard to keep track of the boys moving at different paces with different needs
lisa and I went man to man
first I had grant while lisa had dean
then we swapped
grant burned out early and never got his second wind
that he participated at all was an achievement
dean who is usually a halloween marathoner opted to head for home a few minutes after 9
there were chance meetings with friends from the neighborhood
there were unexpected run ins with other kids from school
we stopped by various friends house for the open house halloween experience
a glass of wine and chilli at one house
and hot cider and tortolenni at another
the boys are as excited about the action as they are about the candy
maybe more so about the action
but the candy carries the momentum
the candy is the carrot on the string
on a walk back that involved more conversation than a quest for candy
most of the houses had run out of candy by this time so it was just as well
dean and I got home to find grant was cleaned up and in pajamas
grant had gone from halloween batman to bedtime batman
I asked grant if he had a good time... grant had
I recalled some highlights and made no mention of the mood or the tantrums
dean camed down cleaned up and dressed for bed
I had washed the makeup off his face but he had requested to have his hair silver for the soccer game the next morning
the boys got to watch a tom and jerry cartoon before going to bed
the kids fell asleep with no arguement
well... almost no arguement
Halloween Night!
Halloween Season is wrapped up with the passing of Halloween Night
but this by no means that fall is over
Thanksgiving celebrates the season
there are still leaf piles to jump in and autum decorated wooded trails to run in
sorry....
this rant is too long to re-read and proof
if it makes no sense...
then it makes no sense