10.31.2010

How Leo Does Halloween

Here are some things Leo has learned this Halloween season:

1) Always go to the pumpkin patch. Try to do so late on a Monday afternoon, when not many other people will be there -- that way you can jump off the hay bale pyramid as many times as you like, without having to wait in line forever.

2) Because if you go to a Halloween activity that is bustling, for instance the Halloween House at your big sister's school, you may get overstimulated and take out your short-circuiting on your little sister the princess devil bat fairy by pushing her down in front of twenty or so people. Neither she nor your mother will appreciate this -- your mother will calmly and without talking to you or giving you eye contact have you sit down in a quiet space so you can regroup, which is helpful but boring. She will also then give all her attention to your little sister while watching you out of the corner of her eye, which is totally unfair. Conclusion: Haunted Houses suck at this point in time.

3) What is better: going to the Halloween parade at your little sister's school, because parades are awesome! Marching along with other people can't be beat -- you get to move around, it's easy to know what to do, and everyone on the sidelines is cheering just for you -- the most handsome red ninja in town, with the very best stretchy ninja hoodie that is effectively a body sock.

4) What is unknown: Trick or Treating. It's been a while since you went, but it's a routine-based activity, and -- dude -- you get candy. Plus your cousins invited you to use their house in the middle of a fruitful trick or treat neighborhood as a base, so you can retreat if need be. You are cautiously optimistic, though this attitude may be the result of some projection courtesy of your mother.

Have a great Halloween, Leo!

Leo's sisters have been getting into the Halloween spirit as well. Mali has been making a series of SCARY DRAWINGS THAT ARE SCARY. Her "Slayer" drawing below is my favorite, and makes me suspect that our youngest has been sneaking in while her older sister and I watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer. (Best moment so far: Iz's outrage upon discovering Angel is a vampire.) Click through to Flickr to see the whole series.

India's Halloween: Slayer!

We took all of Mali's drawings and made a SCARY PICTURES HALLOWEEN MOBILE. Mostly because we have a lot of extra hangers, and Iz's friend Violet's mother the interior design genius gets exasperated each time she walks into our house and realizes that we still haven't hung anything from the weird second-story crossbeam we installed two years ago after Leelo got into the habit of charging out of his room on the second story and into the not-terribly-sturdy railing. Iz added the spider.

Since Iz is now a very big girl, her Halloween tastes are becoming less fanciful. Here is her Halloween pumpkin (courtesy of carving session with Rook -- the rest of us are happy enough with our squashes intact). Meanwhile we are having discussions about rap music and decoding misogyny.

Fingers crossed for all of us on this potential watershed holiday! I hope every single one of your kids -- super powered or not -- has a merry, happy, fabulously spooky Halloween.

3 comments:

  1. We're laying low this year due to Nik's having just gotten out of the hospital on Tuesday night. It's kind of a bonus, though; he still doesn't quite get the whole holiday and the costume part always leads to sensory nightmares.

    Hope you and all your children have a fabulous time!

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  2. I hope the laying low worked out. Best wishes for an accelerated and healthful recovery for your little pumpkin.

    Leo had the best Halloween ever -- we're so pleased for him. He trick-or-treated for an hour, total champ.

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  3. Billy had the best Halloween ever too! So glad things worked out for you guys. LOVED the Slayer drawing :-)

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