Thursday, November 3, 2011

Halloween 2011

I really like Halloween.  My kids do too.  The few weeks leading up to it are filled with such beautiful anticipation.  I love seeing it though my kids eyes and remembering the good 'oll days of my childhood. 

We spent a good part of Tuesday dealing with the fact that "Halloween is over."  The babe asked, "Mama, how many more days before we have Halloween again?"  It hurt to tell her 364.

I have taken down the spider webs from the bushes out front.  I have packed away the costumes.  But I still have a lot of candy.  Too much candy considering I have a daughter with food allergies and a son who is not used to eating food his sister can't eat.

The tough part about Halloween is sorting through my kids stash at the end of the night.  I take away all the candy and chocolates my daughter can't have.  Reese's Peanut Butter Cups being a prime example.  She remains seriously allergic to peanuts and tree nuts and can't eat dairy products that haven't been baked at 425 for 25 minutes or more.  I am too paranoid to give her things without labels and usually end up taking away most of her trick or treating collection.  I am the bad guy.  I would have hated myself now as a kid.  Luckily she is good about it and doesn't lose her cool. 

I try to replace the candy I take with approved candy I have bought in advance.  So I guess that makes me the good guy.  The kids still get to sit at the dining room table after they eat dinner and eat too much sugar.  They still get to experience the sugar highs and lows of a normal post-Halloween childhood.

Although yesterday was a reminder that perhaps my kids aren't that used to getting loaded up on sugary candy treats.  Our first incident was during nap time when the little guy barfed up chocolate I had given him after lunch (his sister was at school and I figured she wouldn't know the difference).  The little guy sadly knew the difference.  This barfing episode may be due to the fact he doesn't consume much dairy or that he doesn't consume much chocolate.  Regardless, no more dairy chocolate for that kid. 

The second incident was before bath time.  Both kids had consumed a good chunk of candy after dinner so were a tad ramped up by bath time.  I was on my own last night and was sorting out pajamas, etc. for after bath when I heard a horrific cry.  The crying continued and before I knew it I had a sobbing little boy in my arms.  My hyper daughter had managed to close the bathroom door on my hyper son's thumb.  We had a solid 20 minutes of theatrics and I broke a sweat worrying that his little thumb could be broken.  By 8:25 pm everyone was safely tucked in bed....clean and calm. 

Oh, and by the way, the babe was a witch for our neighborhood party on Sunday and then an astronaut for Halloween on Monday.  The little guy, my crustacean, was a lobster.  They were both darn cute, if I do say so myself.  Another successful Halloween under our belts with a few lessons learned to boot.

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