What a Treat

Partially obstructed views
I will be using this picture for YEARS to come.

This will be quick.  Particularly because I should be doing other things like preparing for my in-laws to arrive and writing a post for BeTween Books.  Hint:  only one of those things is going to happen tonight.  My in-laws arrive tomorrow so I bet you know which one I'll finish.  But I wanted to write this while it was still warm and fuzzy and full of goodness.

Happy Bee dance

Tonight was a great night.  Scratch that.  It was a fabulous night.  Traffic was horrible getting home from work and we shoved gluten free cheese-less Domino's (thank you for that, by the way, Domino's) pizza in Sweet Girl and Little Man's faces immediately upon arrival home, but tonight was wonderful.  Halloween has been a bit of a mixed bag for us.  Sweet Girl vehemently disdained costumes the first two years of her life.  She also didn't think it was a good idea to talk to people.  Or be around people.  Even if there was candy involved.  She would cry when the costume went on.  She would cry when we ushered her up to people's doors.  She didn't have any kind of fun, and what's the point in forcing a kid to participate in Halloween?  Then she was in pre-school and they did Storybook Character day.  I dressed her as Olivia - a very awesome pig if you haven't had the pleasure - which involved her favorite red twirly dress and some black and white striped tights with a headband with pig ears that lasted approximately 30 seconds.  Twirly dress huh?  Maybe Halloween's not so bad.  AND there are Skittles and lollipops?!  Halloween might be kind of cool.

I should have prepared you for the cuteness.

Last year was even more exciting for her.  She was Ladybug Girl.  Ladybugs are on a short list of acceptable insects.  Little Man was the world's cutest cow, even if he thought the hood was the pits and all these people talking to him was perplexing.  Not to mention he was on round two of croup and spent most of the night huddled into Aunt Carrie's shoulder.  But still I got to experience Halloween with my girl, who had progressed from screaming and crying to initiating contact with strangers....in an appropriate manner!  So often I think those of us who have been on a different parenting trajectory compare our experiences to what we think would be "normal."  I used to imagine that Sweet Girl would be excited about Halloween and choose a costume.  She would be excited to walk around the neighborhood and collect candy.  All the other parents would notice that she was poised and polite and she would revel in all the fun to be had.  That didn't happen.  I'm not going to lie.  It hurt more than a little that it didn't happen.  And it hurt even more that it probably wasn't ever going to happen.  What I had compared to "normal" was hard to accept.

But, tonight.  Tonight was different.  Tonight my ears know how to hear better.  My eyes leaked a bit more because of it, but my ears heard what they had been wanting to hear for years.  They heard "Trick or Treat!"  They heard "Hi!  Happy Halloween!" They heard "Come on, Brother!" They heard "Hey! Wait, Sissy!" They heard "Thank you!"  They heard "Oh, I love my costume!" They heard "Mommy, I having so much fun on Halloween!"  And even without all those words, the smiles and giggles would have let my ears hear what I've been hoping for.  Tonight, as my kids ran around the neighborhood getting candy they can't eat in costumes they'll never wear again, my ears heard happy.  What a treat that was to hear.