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| What Halloween teaches 2-yr-olds |
What a fabulous year for Halloween and dress up for our family. It wasn't easy to make it all work, but work it did -- and Lea sure learned how to work-it!
Work-It Baby! -- She learned that she's gorgeous in a dirndl. She learned that she only wants THOSE SHOES when she wears it. She learned that the unusual feeling of the felt of her cape isn't really "Yucky!" but it's just how it feels, and it's FUN!
(I'm so glad she got over the "yucky!" felt thing. My Mom slaved over that cape on one recent Saturday, and it seemed for a while that she wasn't going to wear it.)
Work-It Kid! -- She learned that if she behaves, doesn't throw fits, and is even helpful, she will generally get what she wants. So when she can't have a treat until after dinner, she pronounces that she's "All done!", calmly marches to the trash can with her dinner plate, and tries to empty it out and put the plate in the sink. Of course, she's hardly eaten anything on her plate, but she's trying so hard to get candy for dinner and she's doing all the right things. While we as parents are struggling to get protein and nourishment into her system, at least she's not screaming about it constantly. She's workin' it!
Work-It Girl! -- This child learns fast. She recognized that, even if she can't think fast enough to say "Trick or Treat!" or "Thank you!" on cue, all she has to do is stand there and look cute and people give her candy.
After she received her first trick-or-Treat, she abandoned the sidewalk - she tromped through the yard as quickly as possible to the next front door. She was in like Flynn and knew it!
She had her eye on her candy stash at all times. Every moment, she knew how much was in her bucket or bag, where they were, she checked on them, she practically hoarded them until we were safely home. It was her carefully guarded treasure, and in her mind she'd counted every piece and every piece counted.
Later in the evening at home, when she found an empty wrapper in the bucket, she immediately brought it to me. "What's dis, Mommy?" she sweetly asked, but as her Mom, I could hear the worry in her words. It was the wrapper from the one piece we let her have while at the local Halloween parade. I explained that, she got it, inquisition over. (Whew!)
Even later in the evening, we promised her she could have one more treat after she finished her milk. (Finishing her milk also means "Time for teeth" which means bedtime.) She dawdled, she tried to dilly-dally into staying up later, ran around like a psychopath (i.e. toddler on a sugar-high) and tried to extend her evening playtime, tried to ignore her milk, tried to pretend she'd already finished it. By the time she got around to preparing for bed, The E.P. had forgotten about the promise (or perhaps hoped that she'd forgotten!) Lo and behold, Lea began to freak out on him, sobbing, not allowing her diaper to be changed or her teeth to be cleaned. Her speech was garbled through her tears. But I knew what she was trying to say.
"Treat!"
So The E.P. got her one little crunch bar, and she cherished every bite, and then she was fine and went to bed without further complaint.
The girl remembers everything and wants what's hers.
Work-It for All It's Worth! -- Before I got Lea up this morning, I made sure to hide the candy. Because Lord Knows there'd be no eating breakfast if her bucket was visible. It was not easy to find a spot in our small apartment where she can't find it either on her own, or while watching us prepare meals in the kitchen.
She's been up all of 10 minutes before she was in Daddy's arms, eyes scouring the kitchen, asking "Wuck-ed! Wuck-ed?!" Her bucket was safely hidden and, being a reasonable child, she listened when we explained that the treats are "a sometimes food" and she would see them again.
My gratitude for this morning scene is boundless.
Work-It Momma -- We had a fabulous time, walked 3-4 miles through the neighborhood including going to the parade, and I'm so proud of Lea for how brave she was and how fast she comprehended what was happening in the moment.
And yet... I'm a bit shocked on how quickly she absorbed the "candy candy MINE MINE!" attitude of so many children on Halloween. Was it the big kids diving in front of her to pick up the candy thrown from floats (like a children's Mardi-Gras?!) Was it me? It is just human nature to go nuts when you realize someone will give you something for nothing (as long as you show up and look cute)?
Hmm.... Food for thought before next year's adventure. Food... candy candy candy candy......
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