Seeing her teacher, Miss Patty, at the clothes pin drop, helped warm her up a bit.
Goldfish crackers and Halloween books. Alyse was sleeping in the stroller by this time since the party was during the kids usual bedtime. Mitchell didn't seem to mind!
Waiting in line for the basketball toss.
By the end, they were practically packing up around us because Zoe didn't want to leave. We need to find a way to expedite her 'getting comfortable' phase.
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We had a similar issue occur for Halloween. Chelsea's set time for trick-or-treating is 4-6 p.m. While I understand the reasoning behind such a timeframe, it's not all that practical for working parents. I raced home to find Daddy, Mitchell, Alyse and Zoe sitting on the front porch, candy readied for the masses and Zoe looking a bit unsure of the whole thing.
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I had talked to Zoe on the phone earlier in the day and when I asked her if she was excited about trick-or-treating, her reply was, "Yes, but I don't want to say trick-or-treat. You say it for me, Mama!" When the time came to actually head out, she said she'd rather stay with Daddy and Mitchell on the porch and hand out candy. We finally coaxed her into believing that Halloween was going to be fun and not scary at all.
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Just as we were about to start walking, a Headless Horseman walked by with his two sons, also dressed in scary make-up. This REALLY didn't help our case. After another 15 minutes of explaining that it was just a daddy dressed in a costume and Rich showing Zoe how the costume worked by pulling his own shirt up over his head several times, we again convinced her to leave the safety of our porch and visit a couple houses. In the meantime, Alyse and Mitchell were having a ball watching kids come up to the porch to ask for candy. Alyse and I went out with Zoe while the boys held down the fort.
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She was finally enjoying herself ... until that damn headless guy ruined things by walking on the same sidewalk as us. I had to carry her the last quarter-block while she buried her head in my shoulder screaming, "Is he following us?" Rich managed to get her to take one more sweep of the neighborhood with him. I believe his coaxing included a promise to "tackle the guy" if he came too close. In the end, she was satisfied with her haul, though meager by most standards.
Once we were back in the house, Zoe ate her two favorites: That box of raisins and a bag of bat-shaped pretzels. Then she spent the rest of the night eagerly opening candy, taking one bite or lick and saying, "I don't weally like that" and tossing it aside. After the third sucker was stuck to my carpet, I said that was enough candy for the night. She hasn't asked me for any since. The few candy bars she had are long gone, eaten by Rich and me. I think there will be plenty of Skittles left for Busia!
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Take care,
ZMA's mama
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Daddy's political aside: It's true, the Headless Horseman was pretty freaky. But, by far, the scariest costume of the night was the 50-something woman wearing two McCain-Palin signs as a sandwich board. I should have asked Zoe to tackle her for me.
3 comments:
Zoe said that she was saving me all the green, yellow and orange ones. I'm sure a few of them will be a little sticky. :)
Zoe reminds me a lot of Anna. I had to hold her during the entire Halloween party at her school, until the very end when there was dancing and a conga line. Then she danced with teachers and was having a great time.
Julie Anne
Trick or treat and fall festival pictures are great. Thanks for not taking one of the creepy,headless guy.
Miss Patty needs a bottle with a bigger opening if preschoolers (or caregivers with less than perfect vision) are expected to drop a clothespin into it.
Crooked Lk Ln
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