NaBloPoMo Day 1: Halloween recap

It's November 1, day 1 of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and this year I'm not participating. It's too much for me to do right now, and I'm okay with that. I don't need to write 2,000 words a day. I don't need to write that novel right now.

But I do need to write. And so I'm going to attempt NaBloPoMo: National Blog Posting Month. One month in which I attempt to write a new blog post every day. Can I swing it? We'll see. I do have a lot to write about, though some of it will have to remain quiet for a while. Since yesterday was Halloween I'll start there.

Moe doesn't "get" Halloween, but he doesn't seem to hate it either, so every year we dress him up in a relatively comfortable costume and attempt to participate as much as he wants.

Some years are better than others. Moe's first Halloween, at 6 months old and dressed as a chili pepper (an homage to my brother, a die-hard Red Hot Chili Peppers fan), was less than amazing. We went to a large mom's group event, which was noisy and hot and, as I've said about other such things, the opposite of fun.

Following years were okay. At one, Moe enjoyed his monkey costume, and at four seemed to tolerate the m&ms costume for the school parade. At 5, the cookie monster costume worked well. And for the last 3 years, he's gotten skeleton pajamas, which work well for a brief walk around the neighborhood.

Our neighborhood is pretty active on Halloween. Since Jelly was born, we've gone out as a family. We walk to see a neighbor's haunted castle, complete with animatronic dragon out front. Then we take Moe and Jelly to trick or treat at a couple of houses, walk back home, and turn off the porch light so the dog won't spend the night barking and the kids can get some sleep.

But last year, Jeff and Moe came back after a few houses and handed out candy. Moe seemed to like that so we thought we'd try it again this year. Unfortunately, Moe had other plans. We got the kids ready but by the time we got out the door, Moe was already really over stimulated. He wouldn't walk with us and started to scratch Jeff. So they came back and Jelly and I walked the 'hood by ourselves (and a ton of other families out and about).

Jelly and I had a good time collecting candy and even venturing into one of now two haunted houses in our neighborhood. Meanwhile back at home, Moe and the dog were too wound up for trick or treaters. Jeff had to deal with a perfect storm of not one but two leaky pull-ups, spoiling the last ofthe clean pajamas. So Jelly and I came back to a really overtired Moe, with at least another hour to go until the laundry was done.

I try not to have too many expectations for holidays like Halloween. Moe doesn't understand it, so I know he doesn't feel like he's missing anything. It is really easy to get down about what we can't do as a family, or how tough even a night at home can be. I try to focus on what went right. Jeff took good care of Moe. Jelly had a good time. It was a beautiful night and Jelly's Joy costume didn't even require a sweater. The laundry did get done and the kids eventually fell asleep.

And well all got that extra hour of sleep this morning. Or not. Whatever.