The Halloween that Finally Was

Last Wednesday, I rushed home from school to get ready for trick o'treats.  We decorated the door, poured pounds of candy into a child-friendly bowl, dressed Madeline in her costume, and popped over to my mom's house to share some of the cuteness with her. 

 By the time we got back to our house, we expected the festivities to be in full swing, but something was amiss.  There wasn't one single ghost, goblin, or Spiderman roaming the streets in search of bite-sized treats.

Halloween had been postponed in our town due to the hurricane.  Last year a blizzard thwarted our plans, and now this.  Womp. Womp. Womp.

I realize that hurricane relief takes high priority over trick or treating, however, we did not lose power, there were no downed tree limbs, school was back in session, and every town in our area went forth with their holiday celebrations.  There was little evidence of ever having had a hurricane in our neighborhood.  Womp. Womp. Womp.

To ease our disappointment, we decided to indulge in a celebratory burrito.  That usually makes me feel better.  So we drove our little garden gnome to a local burrito chain only to find the place had been invaded by every teenager in town.  I peered in the window at a group of rowdy football players dressed in pink tutus long enough to realize that we weren't getting any burritos to celebrate Halloween either.  Womp. Womp. Womp.   We went to Subway instead.  Their meatball sub tasted like the crushed hopes and dreams.  Madeline ate it anyway.

But last night, trick o'treating finally happened.  It was just as magical as I could have hoped.  Even though it was her first trick or treating experience, she caught on pretty quickly.  She went right up to every candy bucket without being too shy, laughed at most of the other costumes, and held our hands without a fuss.  She even managed to remember her manners at a few houses by saying, "Trick or Treat!!!" and, "Tanks!"  (Thanks!)

My favorite part was that even though she was dressed as a garden gnome, she kept shouting, "I'm a princess!  I'm a princess!"  You see, the only way I could get her to try on her costume was to tell her it was a pretty princess skirt and hat.  When she heard people complimenting her gnome costume, she was a little confused.  Isn't that how we all go through life...thinking we're princesses when really we're just gnomes??  sigh....

When we were done, we let Madeline sit on the front stoop to greet everyone.  She very happily munched on a lollipop and waved to all the kids.

She was so jazzed from all the fun, in fact, that she didn't fall asleep until well after nine.  We listened to her jumping around her crib and were happy we only let her have one piece of candy before bed.  When I went upstairs to check on her later, I found that she had stripped off all of her clothing and was huddled in a little ball trying to keep warm.

And that's how you know Halloween is a success, folks.

Who is that masked wonder???