Hallow-No!

Pumpkin design by Francis, carving by Dad.

Francis refused to go out Trick-or-Treating. Too scary. I lined up his idol (and my Mother's Helper), Olivia, to go out with him -- no. I sewed a fun Pirate costume -- emphatically no. I offered a Hallowe'en party (emphasizing the "lights on" part) with his friends -- no. For previous years I forced him to wear a costume and go trick-or-treating thinking that once out there he would have fun. I usually end up carrying him while he clutched me. So, this year I decided to respect his fears (what a concept!) and let him stay home (uncostumed) and hand out candy. We only had 10 treat-or-treaters come to the door, so it ended up OK that Francis handed out fistfuls of candy (and we still have extra!). Francis scored at daycare anyway, with trick-or-treating (uncostumed) within the Petro-Canada tower.



I dressed Stella up in her elf costume (isn't it darling? I think it turned out fine) and paraded her around to the Oldies in the neighbourhood who (appropriately!) oohed & aaahed over her. She was very happy to have crinkly wrappers to clutch and had a ball emptying her treat bag slowly and then filling it back again.

I love Hallowe'en, but I think I need to sit back and let the children decide how they want to celebrate the holiday rather than imposing my ideas on them. Actually harder to do than one might think.