Ah, another Halloween has come and gone. And Halloween is my favorite of all holidays — it’s lighthearted, it’s fun, it’s creative, and it involves lots and lots of chocolate. How can you go wrong with that?
Last year Sam was all set to be Thomas the Tank Engine, affectionately known as “Tommy” in our household. At the last second, literally, he decided to be a fireman which thankfully was quite simple because he has a cool fireman raincoat and umpty-nine plastic fire hats of various colors. So a fireman was born, and Tommy sat it out. Thankfully Tommy did not have time to file an injunction due the late notice.
Sam has been all obsessed with pirates since last spring, so when he wanted to be a pirate this year it was no big surprise to me. Heck, he has accumulated five different pirate hats, several swords, treasure maps, and a costume he has worn several times just for the heck of it to Chick Delay (otherwise know to the word as “Chick Fil-A”). Plus he has those good ole back-up costumes — the fireman and Thomas the Tank Engine costumes from last year. So I was confident we had all bases covered if there was a big switcheroo again.
Well, this afternoon as we were running late to go to a Halloween party at Rockwood Park Nature Center, Sam didn’t want to be a pirate anymore. “I’m going to be a soldier,” he announced. Oh my! Well, he does loving wearing his “Army outfit” as we call his matching camouflage pants and t-shirt, but really! What was to become of the pirate face-painting makeup I bought at the Dollar Store, the cute Pottery Barn Kids skull-and-crossbones hat, and adorable-made-by-Mama lootbag complete with not one but two treasure maps?
It all sat neglected in the hall closet, my friends, because I was scrambling around the attic trying to find my old Army gear. Did I ever mention that I was an Army JAG Officer in one of my previous lifetimes? Yes, sireeee, I was soldiering it up in for five and a half years. I was stationed in Seoul, Korea; and Fort Lewis, Washington; with a six month deployment to Camp Bedrock, Bosnia; and a summer legal internship in Kaiserslautern, Germany.
Of course I had been meaning to get all of my old stuff out of the attic for Sam for the past couple of months, but kept putting it off. Now with the deadline of the Rockwood Park Nature Center Halloween Party looming, I zoomed up there on a mission with the energy of three espressos! Within seconds I had found the bag, ripped it open, ravaged through it and found my old cap, dog tags and flight bag. How is that for rapid response? I guess Sam has figured me out that if he didn’t give me a deadline that I would never get around to finding it all. Very smart on his part, I must say! When we finally got to the party, his buddy Trent had done a quick switcheroo, too, morphing within seconds from Scooby Doo to fireman. It’s a preschooler’s perogative to change his mind apparently!
When we went out trick or treating, we had only gone to two houses before Sam announced, “I want to go hooooooome!” So we did, and Sam wolfed down two pieces of candy. Then the real fun began. Every time someone rang the bell, Sam would yell, run over to the window, stomp up on his stool, and peer onto the front steps. Then he graduated to handing out the candy ALL BY HIMSELF, even to kids with scary costumes who were way bigger than him. Pretty cool stuff! It was not how I expected the night to go, but being parent sure has made me flexible. He was crestfallen when it approached 9 PM and the doorbell stopped ringing.
As he was going to bed, I asked him what his favorite part of the day was. At this point I was running various scenarios through my mind — the Halloween party, his last-minute soldier costume, eating his very first Three Musketeers bar, but no. Much to my surprise, he replied, “Handing out candy.” Come to think of it, though, my favorite part was watching him hand out candy.
LibbY