Halloween 2011
I think part of my reluctance to post more frequently stems from the want of positive experiences these days. Although that’s not entirely true, I suppose. There’s plenty of positivity happening around here. More on that below. But, Lola and Ollie are incredibly frustrating and it seems at least that the difficult days outnumber the better ones. Obstinate, infuriating, defiant, rambunctious, trouble-seeking and -making. Those are just a few of the words that come to mind to describe their behavior. They can create shit storms in concert with or in opposition to each other. They appear to exist simply for the pleasure of making my life difficult.I know the substance of this complaint is a post (or diary entry) that others have written a thousand times before. They are just being kids. They aren’t really trying to drive me into a wall. It’s nothing personal. But the knowledge of my shared pain with parents everywhere provides little on-the-spot comfort when I do take it either as a deliberate attempt to disrespect me or a display of behavior that is purposefully contrary to the values I have tried to instill in them. These are the moments when I feel like a failing parent. (I will say that I don’t generally experience that assessment of my parenting skills in other, usually comparative, contexts. For example, I don’t give a shit if other kids are taller, faster, stronger, or smarter than mine. And I care even less if the parents appear more confident, put together, or engaged than me. In fact, I often take inspiration and many great ideas from those parents.)The other part of being a parent these days that sucks the life from me is having to say the same thing over and over and over and over again. “Don’t run in the house,” “stop touching your brother’s face,” “stop standing on your toys,” “stop touching my compu” –OLLIE LITERALLY JUST CAME OVER AND SHUT MY COMPUTER DOWN WHILE I WAS TYPING– “stop playing with doors,” “stop touching your peter,” “get out of the refrigerator.” I have to tell myself that a good person isn’t born but made and that takes tremendous effort. I am barely sustained by the hope that at some point soon something clicks and I’ll have two lovely, well-behaved children. I shudder at the thought of two teenagers.When the kids were younger I used to say to myself, I can’t wait until they are a little older, until they are more mobile, have more stamina, and are a little smarter. Little did I know that it’s those very same qualities that make a grade-A troublemaker.But on to one of those moments that “make it all worth while”–a bullshit notion we tell ourselves to restrain the desire to drive the car off a cliff some days but one that has a grain of truth in the quieter moments–and the original purpose of this post: Halloween 2011.
Although the pile of pumpkins pictured here behind us is a slight exaggeration of the number we brought home with us this year, we definitely had more fun and were less restrained in filling our wagon.
They let Ollie drive the tractor out to the pumpkin patch.
Julie is remarkably creative and has lots of fun putting Halloween costumes together. This year, Ollie went as Dr. Dory, world-renowned neurosurgeon [he's managed to do quite a number of my mental health] and, of course, Cyndi Lauper.
Lola carried around an old iPhone in her treat bag that looped "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" and it was fantastic.
A couple more fun designs we carved.
They both went much further then previous years and had a rather impressive haul.I've never really been into Halloween that much, but the kids had lots of fun and so did I so I think we're going to kick it up another notch next year.And now, here comes my favorite time of the year and holidays!