The Dreaded Orange and Black

As an American kid growing up in France I never got to indulge my love of Halloween. No teeny tiny little candy bars examined carefully for signs of nefarious tampering, no evenings of trick-or-treating dressed in cheap costumes, no pathetic haunted houses, no hacked up Jack-o-Lanterns. October 31st was just the night before November 1; nothing special (until I started college and started dragging my French friends to over crowded American style restaurants. Oh yeah, those were the days…)

Then I moved to the States, had a little girl, and finally realized my time had come. Dress the cutie up in some adorable costume and the night was mine! Bwah ha ha ha! (Insert maniacal laughter here.) The first year she was a lobster. We didn’t take her trick-or-treating. She was only 5 months old so we figured the neighbors would see right through our ruse to score free candy. Last year she was a chicken. (Ironic really, now that I think of it.)

We teamed up with some friends and took our toddlers on the town. "Go knock on the door. Don’t forget to say thank you!" repeated ad nauseum as we trekked from door to door. Once the kids started to drag their feet and the bags of loot were getting heavy we headed home. And that’s when the party screeched to a wailing halt.

C, who until that day had gone to bed without a peep, refused to lie down and cried piteously until I rocked her to sleep. The next day featured much of the same, both at nap times and bed time. The third day I tried to make her tough it out. She fell asleep standing up with her head resting on the railing of her crib, tears streaming down her face. The fourth day I tricked her by introducing a funky new music playing/mamma’s voice recording night light. I patted myself on the back for being so clever and put the whole incident behind me.

Ha! I wish.

This year there will be no trick-or-treating. There may not even be handing out of candy at the door. For, ever since that fateful night, little C is terrified of people in costumes. Heck, she even flips out if we even mention the word costume. Do you know how many people ask a two year old what she’s going to be for Halloween?

I used to rub my hands in glee at the thought that Halloween was just around the corner. Now I cringe when I see all the orange and black covering the aisles of the stores we frequent. It’s just not fair. She better not start boycotting Christmas, s’all I’m saying, even if Santa is just a big dude in a costume.

This was a guest post written by Rose at It’s My Life... in honor of this month’s blog exchange.

When I’m not busy working, cooking, or running after my toddler, C, I’m usually hiding in the bathroom thinking up my next blog post or trying to read a chapter or two of the book I’m currently wading through. When I do come up with something witty to write about, you can read it here where Kristen is hanging out today!

Visit all the rest of The Blog Exchange posts on the theme of Orange and/or Black here. And visit Motherhood Uncensored today. I'm giving away some awesome prizes ALL WEEK!

Comments

[jaelithe]

My son went through a phase where he was afraid of costumes, too (name just about any object or activity aside from breathing, and my son has gone through a phase where he was afraid of it, heh). I got him over it by playing games with him using parts of costumes-- masks and cat and bunny ears and such. Of course he was a little freaked out the first couple of times I wanted him to play around with masks et al, but I just kept trying to desensitize him gently, and he eventually got over it. Now he is very excited about the tiger costume he'll be wearing this year.

[Kikarose]

Thank you for all the sweet comments everyone! The costumes are both from BabiesRUs. Great finds.

Kristen, thanks for letting me hang out here today. It was an honor!

[Jenn]

aw - hope she gets over the costume thing and you can have Hallowe-en back :)

[Heather]

The costumes are fabulous. We totally took our kids trick-or-treating when they were only 3 months old. We're shameless.

About Santa...how can I break it to you gently? My son is 3 and Santa still terrifies him.

[Tiffany]

I love the lobster costume! Too cute

[Heather.PNR]

That lobster costume is hilarious!

[jodifur]

It never occured to me Halloween would scare a toddler. It's funny, but know not for you!

[Laura Lohr : My Beautiful Life]

I LOVE the lobster costume.

I hope C lets you indulge your love of Halloween soon! :)

[ktjrdn]

Rose, just remember it's a Santa suit not a costume. Hopefully, that makes a difference :)

[~JJ!]

Adorable costumes~!

My daughter loves the costumes...hates the trick-or-treating...Loves the candy...

Go figure.