It's October, Isn't It?

Halloween 2007

 Sophie was propped up against the tree because she was not standing/walking yet.

 I'm getting very excited to snap pictures of the girls in their costumes this year. I'm almost done with them!

My favorite season has always been Fall. Even growing up and living in the urban desert of Arizona where there were no leaves to watch change, Fall was always my favorite. With the Autumn season also brings Halloween; one of my least favorite of holidays. I'm not sure if it was the gory horror movies I subjected myself to at an early age (covering my eyes but peeking through slightly separated fingers) or if it's just the sheer feeling of terror. Knowing that something at any given moment could happen, embarrass, surprise or frighten me. Maybe it's that adrenaline rush of being on edge that I don't like or maybe it's just that I don't like not being in control of a situation. 

I had always felt this way and still do sometimes. The nice thing about having married someone who loves Halloween is that a lot of the terror I feel is diminished and I'm forced to look at something scary as something fun and exciting. A different point of view... Now that we have kids, it's a whole new game. On the one hand I have a child that LOVES scary things. She also has a great way of separating fact from fiction in her mind. We walk down the Halloween isle every time we visit Target and push every button on the animated Halloween decorations. All she talks about is the Haunted House at Disney World and how for every birthday she gets to dress up and go trick or treating. Ahh, Lily's birthday being so close to Halloween may be the reason she loves Halloween so much. 

Sophie is another story. She startles very easily and really does not enjoy walking down the Halloween isle. I try to keep upbeat about it but with Lily pushing all of those buttons and all of those crazy haunting noises coming from everywhere, she gets overwhelmed and starts crying. I don't blame her, she's just like me. Even a grasshopper jumping in the grass startles her. Now that she's old enough to know what scares her and what she's OK with, I'm not really sure how to attack the Halloween situation with her this year without compromising the fun Lily has with it.

I've been reminding myself that there's nothing to be afraid of when it comes to Halloween. There is no such thing as Freddy or Jason, the very things that made me so afraid of Halloween in the first place. Movies like Donnie Darko and Bram Stockers Dracula don't scare me, but would maybe scare someone else. Like most people, it's probably just the association I make with scary things and Halloween. This year, like the last, I intend to enjoy it for all it's worth. I want to make Halloween a positive thing for the girls and not let the irrational scary things over take them. We have a lot of really fun Autumn type activities to look forward to that I never got to experience growing up. Things like pumpkin patches, hay rides on the back of a John Deere and watching the leaves turn colors and fall off the trees. We're going to go trick or treating with friends around the neighborhood and really just be happy with the time we have together. The next couple of months are going to fly by and now is the time to enjoy everything.