In which I get all mushy about my kids and Halloween

There are a lot of things that are hard about having kids. Sleepless nights (or years for that matter), potty training, huge meltdowns, and more sleep deprivation. Actually, looking back, most of the stress of having your kids be little seems to be (for me at least), just this feeling of not being yourself. From sharing your body (the constancy of feeding and holding a baby delightful and then the constant carrying of a toddler), to the mental and emotional limits of not having a whole lot left over after all of the caretaking is done. And the nights, days, weeks, months, years of exhaustion can not be underestimated. It takes a hell of a toll on a person.

But, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Aside from the highlights of the early years; walking, talking, giggles and discoveries; there is the peace of coming back to yourself as the kids get older and develop into small people with distinct personalities. The break of getting to the point of your child being able to play by themselves, however temporarily. The joy of being old enough to understand the major themes of holidays (loving family, good food, presents). And then there are the moments that make it fun to be a parent. The reason you do it in the first place. The reason that despite all the rough times, you can't imagine having made any other choice.

For me, this year, Halloween has been one of those times. The kids are old enough to show a preference for dress-up and costumes, theatrical displays, and spooky stuff. I have reveled in my Batman and Darth Vader chasing each other through the house, and our own Spongebob and Woody jumping on the trampoline. In addition, and I must say I take a little pride in this; the kids are not scared of anything. In fact, they beg for more. Case in point. Apparently, as I noted in an earlier post, LB complained that the decorations we borrowed from Grandma were not spooky enough. Especially compared to the spooky stuff in our next door neighbors yard. So together, we scoured the local Halloween stores for hanging bats, skulls that light up, pirate skeletons, ghosts and scary old fences.

Several haunted houses and spooky night walks later, we have reached the pinnacle. All Hallows Eve. Mellow day, followed by afternoon haunted house, neighbor Halloween/pre-trick or treating party, trick or treating on our street with Lovely Neighbor, and then trick or treating in Lovely Neighbors new neighborhood, followed by pizza and general mayhem. I have thoroughly enjoyed the Halloween season this year. We have carved pumpkins (three carved, eight all-together), roasted pumpkin seeds (some burned), and gone to community events. Our kids are like us, loving of fun and costumes and scary stuff. And it might be genetic, because OUR parents like Halloween too. We have finally reached the fun point in having children. Despite the hardships, there are times like today when we actually think, maybe this whole child-rearing thing wasn't such a bad idea...