Trick or Treat

Halloween!

So, Selah picked out her outfit this year. She wanted “ballerina princess”…and Mommy & Daddy tried to sway her away, but she has a mind of her own. We even tried suggesting Minnie Mouse or other less “girlie” characters that she likes, but nope – she’s a princess and she knows it…I guess. So, Mommy gave in and bought the outfit, which she promptly wanted to wear every single day leading up to Halloween. And of course I was worried about ruining it (who knew a “spot clean only” ballerina tutu dress existed?! Seems silly to make anything in toddler sizes as “spot clean only”, but whatever). So we had nightly “recitals” leading up to the day, but never allowed outside, and we skipped the tights until that night.

And as the toddler-universe goes, she of course didn’t want to wear the outfit on actual Halloween. And being the amazing parents that Jesse and I are, we forced her to of course! Which is why the first couple pictures are still her beautiful self, but with a non-beautiful attitude. I should have gotten the crying in there, but just captured part of the stoicism.

It did help that I bought her a ballerina doll as a surprise for that day – I somehow just knew the night wasn’t going to go smoothly, so I needed to have the backup on hand. It helped. That, and silly Daddy in his “outfit” that Mommy last minute purchased of funny glasses & eyebrows. Thank goodness! It was funny because I got it on a whim – it reminded me of this funny mask that my Dad wore each year trick or treating. And it seems whenever I catch scent of my own wonderful childhood memories, I like to rope Jesse into somehow recreating it with Selah. Good thing he’s an awesome daddy and a darn good sport! 😉

So, we finally got her out the door with the small compromise of no tights – she hated those things. So, I figured – oh well – she can be freezing later if she wants to. And we were on our merry way to Ghost Village Road – the downtown Montecito area that every business from 3-6 on Halloween hands out candy at. It’s a great activity for the little ones, since it’s early in the day and there are a ton of things for them to be interested in.

And of course, after the first place, Selah was SOLD! Skepticism erased with one handful of candy. Halloween and trick-or-treating was the best thing ever after that. M&M’s? My favorite: “Look, Mommy…they give me CANDY!! Let’s go to another place too!”. And all of a sudden all the hassle getting out of the house melts away into the laughter of your child…

We also were able to meet up with a few friends – some from our small group, and one of my friends who owns a business in Montecito downtown…

All in all, a holiday success. Now are a doling out the candy one piece each day if she eats her dinner. I think next year we’ll implement the “Switch Witch” – an idea from my neighbor. They choose three pieces they’d like, then leave their candy on the porch at bedtime that evening, where the “Switch Witch” comes and switches out the candy for a toy by morning. Seems like a good idea to me!