This is the way Halloween ends
This is the way Halloween ends
Not with a bang but a fever.
Apologies to T.S. Eliot.
In order to curb Halloween vandalism in the 1930's, Des Moines moved trick or treating to the 30th and renamed it Beggars' Night. It's a tradition that's still followed today, but I don't like it. I'd rather hand out candy on Halloween like the rest of the US, but I have to deal with the cards that I'm dealt.
Charlotte also had to deal with the cards she was dealt last night. At daycare and preschool, the Pink Spider was ready for action!
But when she got home, her eyes were glassy and her head and neck hurt. I could tell she had a fever as soon as I pressed my hand across her forehead. The Pink Spider crawled into the couch, covered herself with a Halloween quilt, and spun no webs.
I put away the pumpkin carving tools and took off my Pink Spider henchmen shirt. Char and I watched a new episode of Blaze and the Monster Machines while Mom went to the store for some cans of chicken soup and stars.
Char agreed she was too sick to go trick or treating, and she didn't seem to be too upset about it. Later she recognized some Disney Princesses from the neighborhood at her door, and she realized what she was missing. That's when the dam broke.
We tried to console her. We reminded Charlotte that she had been at the zoo's "Night Eyes" last Saturday, and she Trunk or Treated at church last night. But that's cold comfort when you're inside the house watching kids in costumes outside waving buckets of candy and dancing from doorbell to doorbell. She dove face first into a couch pillow and wailed for five minutes.
By 7:45 the streets were dark and so was Char's bedroom. It was a tough night, but little kids are surprisingly resilient. Despite her bitter disappointment, Charlotte hasn't lost her faith in the holiday. As I pulled the bed covers to her chin, Charlotte whispered, "Next year I want to be a Bat Girl."
Four-year-olds are awesome.
No comments:
Post a Comment