Halloween Traditions

How could anyone hate Halloween? A bigger question: how could I marry someone who hates Halloween? When my otherwise perfect husband (future husband at the time) told me he hated Halloween in college, I dismissed it. He's kidding. He's not had Halloween with me. This is like when he thought he was a Republican (because of the way he was raised), but when quizzed on the issues and having it explained by a sexy social science major, he realized he was almost as far left as me. It's like growing up thinking you hate (or love) a certain food because of the way your mom made it, but when you get to the real world you realize NO ONE puts mayo on hot dogs. Bummer.

So I talked Jon into carving a pumpkin with me and Nolan. Nolan was soooo excited. He picked this pumpkin at a pumpkin patch all by himself. (See facebook account for way too many pictures of my cuties at pumpkin patches.) Nolan couldn't wait. "When will Dad be home?" "Do we have to wait until after we eat dinner to carve?" "Can I touch the knife?" etc. Finally, Jon got home. We ate. We cleaned off the kitchen table. We threaten Nolan, "If you ask one more time when we are going to carve the pumpkin, you'll just go to bed right now." And the carving began. Although Nolan and I have carved a pumpkin everyone of last 3 three years, he doesn't remember it, so this he considers his first time. He loved it. He designed it to look exactly like the plastic pumpkin you collect candy in: a quintessential jack-o-lantern face. I talked him into little fangs just because my creative urges couldn't be stopped.

We lit it up with parentally correct battery powered fake candle and took pictures. Nolan was so proud. And as Jon and I got ready for bed, I thanked him for doing this with us. I knew he hated every minute, but like the perfect dad he is, he didn't complain about it one syllable. And in the sweetest quiet of 2 kids sleeping, Jon said, "It wasn't as boring as I remember." I consider this one of my finest accomplishments.

MaryJane loves eating these things called "Puffs." They are the miracle food of people with 1-4 teeth. (MJ has 3 "official" teeth, and one on the way.) She adores this food. And she can feed it to herself which is great for moms like me who go a thousand miles an hour and hate to sit for 15 whole minutes while painstakingly feeding jar food one.... bite.... at.....a.... time. The Puffs are actually tasty and come in plenty of flavors like strawberry, banana, and apple. Watch out for the corn flavored ones though (imagine soggy Cap 'N Crunch with absolutely no sugar or salt). I am, as of yet, afraid to read the ingredients, but take comfort in the fact that they are made by Gerber - and how could a big, successful corporation that's been around for years possibly be doing something harmful to the public?

Parenting Disclaimer: I will spend all day long with my kids, as long as we don't sit still. This is usually pretty easy considering they are 8 months and 4 (almost 5) years old. Miss Tammy told me how to do the feeding: a few bits, start making pancakes, a few more, wash up the dishes, another couple bits, sweep up... but you probably already see the problem with that already. You have to like to cook, clean up and spend lots of time in the kitchen.

Learning to Walk

MaryJane Mae is trying to walk. Yes, she is only 8 months old, but she has things to do. So she found some shelves she can reach (attched securely to the wall, thank goodness) except that when she holds on to shelf two and pulls herself up, she conks her head on the first shelf. The poor child looks abused with bruises, cuts and scrapes on her face and head. But she keeps trying.

I can't help but draw a correlation with work on the Touro masters. I keep conking my head, but I keep standing up.