Yesterday was my baby's first Halloween. Well, if we're going to be technical, it was his second. But this was the first year I could put him in a monkey suit. And I did just that. We had so much fun visiting all the people who love and dote on him (which is pretty much everyone. Helloooo? See above!). The entire day of preparation it seemed to take, and the complete exhaustion at the end was totally worth those two hours of laughter and light.
Taking him to see grandparents, aunts and uncles, and friends, reminded me of my childhood, when my family would forego the traditional trick or treating to visit family and friends. We would drive all over town to show off that year's costume, and I was allowed to stay up 30 minutes past my bedtime even on a school night.
As I grew, there were fall festivals, parties, and haunted houses (although I'm a total wimp and didn't survive many of those). Halloween eventually became one of my favorite holidays...until the infiltration of slutty-ness (slutty nurses, slutty policewomen, even slutty Brownies and Girl Scouts. To me, the latter begs the question: Whose attention are we really trying to attract here?). I don't know if it was my age (the age of desperate single women trying to get laid) or what. But over the past 6 years I have tried to avoid all things Halloween because so much of it seemed to be...not my cup of tea.
But last night it all turned around, when I saw that sleepy little face wrapped in a monkey hood. We drove all over our small town to show off this year's costume, and he got to stay up a full hour (gasp!) past his bedtime. It's a simple tradition, but one I'm happy to pass onto my son. In years to come there will be trick or treating the neighborhood, parties, fall festivals, and maybe even haunted houses. But this year it was nice to start with the basics: family. And it's nice to rekindle my big kid love affair with Halloween.
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