Halloween 2010

My Dear Three Bambinos,

I’ve been a mother now for six Halloweens. Hands down, the six best Halloweens of my life. And I have great memories of the Halloweens of my own childhood, so that really tells you a lot about how great our Halloweens have been. My parents were big on tradition. As you know (probably all too well!), I am too. And so, our J-M Halloween traditions are a sturdy combination of those passed along from my own childhood, and the traditions we have created ourselves. I’m sure when you look back on these years you’ll have your own memories of your Halloweens as a kid. But this post is a little reminder –from my perspective here and now— of our mainstay Halloween traditions during your childhood.

Tradition #1: Halloween afternoon, carving jack-o-lanterns. You dig out the pumpkins, draw on the faces, and we help you carve them out as best we can!

 

(And just so you don’t think that my rose-colored glasses never come off… here’s a gem of a non-rosy moment from this year’s carving session: the fun-of-it-all veered off in a bad way at one point when Meera took it upon herself to use the marker as “chapstick,” and right at that same time Kyle broke down crying in utter frustration because he couldn’t figure out how to make his pumpkin’s mouth look “scary” enough. We very quickly got right back on track with the good-and-happy… but this is just a reminder that, no, it wasn’t all perfect. And it never is, of course. But, not perfect is just perfect, as far as I’m concerned.) 

Tradition #2: Roasted pumpkin seeds.

Tradition #3: Carrots for dinner (so that while trick-or-treating you can “see better in the dark”… this is a tradition begun entirely by Kyle and Owen… and it has stuck) –along with whatever else we can get you to eat amidst all the excitement (this year it was mac-n-cheese).

Tradition #4: Get into costumes! And head outside to light the jack-o-lanterns!

Tradition #5: Just one posed photo! (Thank you for putting up with it!)

This was Meera’s first “real” Halloween where she fully had a grasp on what was going on. You only have your two-year-old Halloween once. Thankfully, this was a great Halloween and Meera loved every minute!

Tradition #6: Trick-or-treating of course! Here you three are, heading out. Our neighborhood is wonderful for trick-or-treating! MorMor and MorFar have been coming for Halloween every-other-year (rotating with Sadie). This year they weren’t with us, so Mommy and Papi take turns trick-or-treating with you and staying home to give out candy.

Our house on Halloween night:

 

Tradition #7: At the end of the night, dumping out all of your loot and checking out what you got! The truth is, you don’t really like any of the stuff very much. But it is still super-exciting just to have it all! And we pretty much let you eat whatever you want (which isn’t much). But it is quite a thrill to have that sort of candy-eating-freedom!

 

Tradition #8: The Candy Witch. For our family this tradition began last year. And, completely 100% initiated by K & O, it has stuck again for this year (and I’m guessing for maybe many years into the future???). It sort of blows my mind that you three would be willing to dump out all of your trick-or-treating candy into our big basket of whatever-is-left-from-what-we-gave-out and then give it all away to The Candy Witch. But, you do it. And you do it completely voluntarily (seriously! this isn’t something that I would necessarily choose to do!). And you believe. Oh, how you believe! So, tonight, after less than 24 hours with your trick-or-treat loot, you left it all in a basket by the front door. And you went to sleep with pure faith that The Candy Witch would come and leave you something in return. So, you won’t have any idea it happened, but tomorrow my Sociology of Education students will receive a big bag of Halloween candy in class (!), and several hours before that happens, when you three bambinos wake up, you will run downstairs to find this awaiting you at the front door (among other things, K & O will be thrilled to find the digital clocks for their rooms… something for which they’ve been asking for quite a long time now):

I had to take this (photo below) picture last night, just as we were heading out of our driveway to trick-or-treat, of these five tall trees on the edge of our yard. When Papi and I first looked at this house with the realtor, before any of you were even born, one of the things that sold us on it were those five trees. We love them. Little did we know that we’d end up being a family of five. Those trees remind me of us five now… growing strong, rooted in real and meaningful traditions. I hope that as the years unfold you’ll question most all of life, but that you three will never question the depths or the heights of our love for you.

Love, Mommy (and Papi)