I would estimate that 1 of 8 houses in my neighborhood have some kind of Halloween decoration adorning their yard or house. Every time Scooter notices another one, or any house in any neighborhood that we happen to be, he makes a comment like 'See, Mom, everyone is ready for Halloween, we need to decorate our house too.' When we rolled in from Austin on Sunday night after dark and could really tell who had done some prep work his voice turned kind of sad 'Mom, now EVERYONE else has Halloween decorations and we don't.'
The two younger boys are also hounding me daily for their costumes. I haven't bought them yet for several reasons, most of them revolving around the fact that they will change their minds another 10 times about what they want to be between now and the actual day. They also can't wait to wear them around the house to play which is against the rules until they have worn them for trick or treat. Afterwards, I know they will get all my money's worth out of the things until they are shredded and hanging off their little bodies while they play. That's when I sneak the decrepit costumes into the trash when no one is looking. I am trying to limit the number of times I have to say 'No, not until after Halloween' though.
I told Tyler this week that if he wants to trick or treat this year and next it's fine, but I am probably going to make a rule that age 12 is the max. I get annoyed with teenagers who don't even dress up properly coming to the door to beg for candy so I don't want my kids doing it. He knows he probably won't want to participate after that anyway, but speaking from experience, I know that even well behaved, almost prudish, teenagers can sometimes get a wild hair up their butt and think that running through the neighborhood to compete for candy with preschoolers sounds like a good idea. The good news is he seems to have lost the desire to dress up as a character or hero and doesn't need me to order some costume that will hang in his closet all year needling me. Instead, we are coming up with fun, DIY costumes that will be more on the funny or ironic side. Luckily, he isn't choosing anything that I have to sew so the crafts are staying within my completely achievable realm.
The little boys didn't really like my idea of ditching super hero costumes in favor of being a family of m&m's in a rainbow of colors. Well, Scooter said he liked the idea, but only to get to the party and show everyone, then he would still want to change and be a Red Power Ranger Samurai after people saw it. Right, cuz one costume idea per child isn't enough. He kind of wants to trick or treat, because he wants candy, but he wants me to do it for him. You know, hold the bucket, say the words, say the thank you. Shy guy. Riley didn't like my idea at all, even when I offered to switch it up to a family of Angry Birds (his favorite game) because he doesn't actually want to go to a party or trick or treat, he just wants a Batman costume. Because he wants one. His birthday is the next day - I could have gotten him one for a present, but he doesn't want to participate in anything else. Okaaaaaay.
This is probably a little bit my fault. I drag my feet for Halloween, especially since I had Riley. I like the holiday, I like the costumes, I even like to dress up on occasion. But, I put off getting ready for it more every year. Halloween is the kick off of the holiday season for me. As hectic as my life can be any other day of the year, once Halloween comes everything moves into even higher gear. Riley has a birthday the next day and I have to squeeze in a party while I am trying to get ready for Thanksgiving, figure out who is getting what for Christmas and how much I am going to spend, shop for multiple ingredients for various yummies and then fit everyone's everything in before the end of the year. Not to mention the actual baking and figuring out when Tyler will be with what family and the transport for all of that. I literally won't stop until January 1st. And seriously - we already have 4 different Christmas parties/events on our calendar for December. It's still October!
When we traveled to Austin for Jocelyn's first birthday this weekend, I left a fairly clean house with no dirty laundry lingering. There were a few bankers boxes stacked in a corner that held jeans and warm shirts for little boys since there was a cold front brewing. Now, my house looks like a tornado hit it. Those few boxes have multiplied to about 15. Each holds or held warm clothes for 5 family members that have to be washed, folded and put somewhere. I got a good start on it all, but since we still have fairly warm days as well - I don't have anywhere to put the stuff! My coffee table and fireplace are stacked with winter clothes while dressers and closets are still packed full of spring/summer/fall clothes (since it's basically one season here). The daunting task of switching, sorting and organizing is on the top of my to-do list.
I actually sat down last night and wrote out the list. Most of the time I keep an ongoing list in my head, mentally crossing things off, reorganizing and reprioritizing as needed. Sometimes, it's just too much and I need to see it in front of me, even if just for a second so I can get some perspective. The list took an entire page of my notebook and it was just things that needed to be done before Tuesday next week. Topping the list are the Evite for Riley's birthday party (which I am trying to keep small and simple), taking care of all the clothes and filing away the four tall stacks of papers and stuff that were lumped together little by little so I could deal with them later. It's later. The list is rounded out with cleaning the house . . . again.
I am working 3 days next week for another conference. The hours on this job are so long that they have offered me a room at the hotel where the conference is being held. At first I didn't think I would use it, but the alternative is coming home after kids are already in bed and getting up at 4:30 for 2 mornings to be back in time, well before the munchkins will be up for school. I am sure it would be worthwhile to kiss their sleeping heads, at least for me, but they wouldn't know I was there. I will be gone from my house for almost 3 full days. I won't come home to as clean of a house as I will leave, but if it starts cleaner it won't be quite as bad when I get back. I think. That's the plan anyway.
When I was compiling my list of the last wave of numbered boxes for Scott to pull for me last night, I noticed on my spreadsheet that I had 3 boxes listed for Halloween. I was pretty sure that was just the pumpkin buckets (that I didn't even have pulled last year - we used plastic bags for the first and last time), but since there were 3 of them I added them to my honey-do list. When I opened them up I found 5 different pumpkin candy buckets (don't ask) and then, you won't believe it . . DECORATIONS!
I called Scooter over and had him peek inside the boxes, he was so excited. There wasn't much, but I had a few things that I had accumulated back when Tyler was in this same stage, thinking we should decorate for every single holiday. Two fake jack o' lanterns with light bulbs inside now sit on shelves in my living room. There's a fall themed 'Welcome' sign hanging on the outside of my front door and a Halloween type felt banner hanging inside the door. And in the boys room is a plastic pumpkin with lights sitting inside their window. I carried Scooter outside to see how it looked - his smile was sooooo worth all the chaos we are about to find ourselves in.
I can't stop the holidays from descending, and I wouldn't really want to either. They are crazy because I make them that way. I love the season so much and want my kids to experience everything so I welcome the crazy in with open arms every single year. It doesn't matter if we have been watching baseball non-stop for the past few weeks. It doesn't matter that we had a case of Strep Throat invade our home this month. It doesn't even matter that I am taking on more responsibilities right now in some other areas of my life. It's coming again and this year will be just as crazy as it always is, even while I am trying to slow it all down.
So, this was the one time I am going to allow myself to complain to you about how crazy it's going to be. Not saying I won't tell you about the crazy, just that I am going to do my darndest to not complain about it. Because I know I could change it, but I don't want to. I want my kids to have traditions to build on, even if it makes our lives hectic. And on top of it all, I will be striving to bring even more of the real message of the Holidays into their little hearts than they soaked up last year.
I hope you are all enjoying our cooler weather and are getting ready for Halloween in your favorite fashion. I also hope that you have just the amount of crazy for your holidays that you ask for and can handle. I am just hoping I know when to say no this year and that I can keep a handle on everything I have committed to! I am going to try and stay focused on enjoying where each child is right now and how they observe and celebrate in their own ways. And maybe, one year, we'll get to be a family of m&m's for Halloween before they are too old to think it's fun.
No comments:
Post a Comment