The Girls Go Trick-or-Treating

The rain doesn't bother me. I hardely ever even use an umbrella. I rarely do anything with my hair, and I have plenty of hoods and hats that work to keep the rain off my face. I don't mind getting a little wet, especially when I'm dressed in casual clothes.

I think this is a hold over from my childhood, because I've found that usually uninfluenced kids aren't bothered by the rain. Of course, I'm sure that's not true for every kid, and how often are kids uninfluenced by mom and dad who don't want to get wet. But my girl? She does not seem to mind the rain, especially a light drizzle. She has no issues (at least right now) wearing a coat and hood, and she loves to hold her umbrella (it's Winnie the Pooh and super cute).

On Halloween, it rained. Luckily, it started raining after our neighborhood's pre-trick-or-treating block party. We met up with the Pumpkin's two friends she used to play with every day when she was home with the nanny. She hadn't seen them since she started pre-school, so it was really great to get together with them. As coincidence would have it, one of her friends dressed up as Snow White and the other as Sleeping Beauty. The Pumpkin was Belle*, so we had three very adorable princess! We took lots of pictures.

The Pumpkin and her friends ate pizza standing in the street with the other families, as the sun was setting. The Pookie and Snow White's baby sister hung out in their strollers. The adults chatted and corralled the 2.5 year olds. As the party was winding down, we headed off to trick-or-treat together.

The Pumpkin thought the whole thing was pretty neat. She loved to look at all the other kids in their costumes. She enjoyed dressing up and telling people that she was "bee-ale" (how she pronounces Belle). She was so happy to see and spend time with her friends. And she was really thrilled with knocking on people's doors and getting candy!

She's at a good stage for repeating what I tell her to say, so she would say "trick or treat" and "thank you" and "happy Halloween" every time I'd prompt her. She was great about picking out one piece of candy. Knowing we would go through her candy once we got home and that we'd keep a close eye on her before then, I let her pick out any candy from the bowls--even those with peanuts and other nuts.

We got to about five or six houses with the girls when the drizzling rain started. Londo had the baby in the stroller covered with a sweater and the canopy over him, but we were both a bit worried about him because he's had a cold over the last week. Londo has also been sick, so even though he had a rain coat, he didn't want to stay out in the rain. Londo and the Pookie went back home to hand out candy.

The Pumpkin and I put on our rain coats and were ready to continue begging for handouts. Our friends, however, were not as prepared or not as comfortable with the rain. They all headed back to their houses. I looked at my girl and asked if she wanted to keep trick-or-treating. The answer was an emphatic yes!

The Pumpkin and I walked, hand in hand, through the rain. Just us two girls. It was dark now, but warm outside. There were others around, going door to door as we were. We admired the spooky decorations. We said hi to the other kids and parents. We collected her loot with good manners. We laughed and talked.

The rain lightened and even stopped, but we had made it back to our house. We waved to Daddy on the porch and got candy from him, too. We smiled at the Pookie in the swing just inside the glass storm door. We told them both about how we went trick-or-treating.

I love Halloween. I always have. But now, with kids? I love it even more. Rain or no rain, I will go out with the kids and enjoy every second of it for as long as they will let me.

*I didn't buy any accessories. I figured she could just wear the tiara I had from my wedding day (why yes, I was a princess on my wedding day). She wouldn't wear it, though, so I put it on my head and wore it around all night. I'm glad I didn't spend money on a crown she wouldn't wear or other accessories she would have taken off and lost.