October 31, 2007
Yesterday I took Delaney on a walk down one of the most popular Boise streets for trick-or-treating. I took her during the day so she could see for herself that the decorations are pretend and NOT SCARY. I had this brilliant idea after recalling the HORROR that was last year when we went trick-or-treating. It went like this:
All the adults: YAY! Look at THIS silly Halloween house! HA HA HA! OKAY! Let’s walk up to the door and we’ll say TRICK OR TREAT! Ready?! TRICK OR TREAT!
Delaney: whaaaa whaaaaa whaaaaaa
Delaney’s cousin Mialee: Dewaney won’t stop crying! DEWANEY! STOP!
Delaney: cryyyyyyyyy cryyyyyyyy cryyyyyyyyy
And it wasn’t just that she was cold or tired (which she was probably both), she LITERALLY would SHAKE with fear at seeing people dressed up, seeing any Halloween decoration that wasn’t a pumpkin, seeing ANYTHING at all. All these nice homeowners would take off their masks and show her that SEE! It’s just a human under here! But she still wouldn’t have it. My child is truly my child, she’s scared of everything.
My Mom loves to tell the story of taking me to the park when I was 2 or 3 years old and finally forcing me to go down the death contraption commonly known as the slide. She really truly FORCED me down the slide, WAILING and KICKING and FIGHTING for my LIFE much to the dismay of all the other parents in the surrounding area. All those parents watched in horror as my Mom dragged my toddler body up those stairs and PUSHED me down the big metal slide, probably laughing while she did it (remind me to tell you about another rather painful and ghastly memory of my Mother YANKING my loose teeth out of my mouth with a dishtowel while sitting on top of me SNICKERING with delight). THIS, my friends, is what it looks like to be raised by a Psychologist. REMEMBER THIS, all you Psychologists out there who are about to unknowingly subject your children to this kind of childhood. But back to the slide, she forces me down and the scene is reminiscent of the scene in Charlotte’s Web when Wilbur is about to die but then halfway down the slide I start laughing! I say WEE! And at the end of the slide, I say “AGAIN!” and my Mom likes to imagine that all the other Mothers in the park start nodding, smiling and advancing towards the slow clap. (slow clap: clap….clap…..clap…..clap..clap..CLAP..CLAP..CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP!!! BRAVO!)
Well, I tried a DIFFERENT approach this year rather than throwing her to the wolves again, which proved UNAFFECTIVE last year. And she did really well on our little walk. I think she gets it. We’ll see though.
Here are a few pictures from some of my favorite Boise houses decorated for Halloween.
The scary front door entrance
The scary gate entrance
The front yard graveyard
The spider web entrance
The flying ghosts
the Reaper
The uh, ritualistic burial ground entrance?
Close up of bloody head
Pumpkins that will be smashed to smithereens in a few hours
The real fun begins tonight, though, when all the owners of these beautiful old houses bring out the smoke and mirrors and put on a fabulous show for the kids. And the parents. They hide and jump out at you, they pretend they are dead on their rocking chairs and then BOOM! come alive, they play scary music and hand out MASSIVE candy bars. It’s pretty fun. Boise’s fun like that. We also have cornfield mazes and haunted forests, pumpkin patches and Halloween street fairs. We really love Boise. What do ya’ll do in your respective parts of the country? Is Halloween as fun there as it is here?
And just for fun:
Delaney’s first Halloween at 9 months
Delaney’s embarrassing parents as a Saloon girl and a Gambler last Saturday night.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE! Be safe and have fun tonight! And remember that Michael Moore says that there never was a razor blade in a candy.
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October 31st, 2007 at 4:32 pm, JMC Says:
Did one person carve ALL those jack-o-lanterns? If so, WOW! It must’ve taken them a month or so. We couldn’t get our act together enough to get one carved.
October 31st, 2007 at 4:48 pm, Jess Says:
Delaney has some pretty rockin’ parents! That picture is awesome. Here’s hoping for a tear- and fear-free Halloween evening.
October 31st, 2007 at 6:09 pm, chou2 Says:
OMG, where did you get that elephant costume??? I must have it for Sprout!!! (for next year, of course)
October 31st, 2007 at 10:56 pm, Julie Says:
Fun costumes! I love all the house displays. Guess I could live in a big, beautiful house like one of those if I moved to Boise, huh?
My oldest was just as scared (about everything) as Delaney. He has not enjoyed Halloween until this year when logic kicked in (he’s 7 years old). She’ll get over it eventually and have fun.
November 1st, 2007 at 7:03 am, dcrmom Says:
Those houses. OMG! Gorgeous homes, great decorating. No, we don’t have anything THAT fun. Although we have a neighbor that makes spiked “witches brew” to hand out to the adults. That’s fun enough for me!
Love the saloon girl and gambler costumes. Too cute!
November 1st, 2007 at 9:39 am, Mandy Says:
Boise looks like lots of fun during Halloween. Here in OH we have tons of Haunted Houses we enjoy going to on weekends. Everyone loves decorating and trick or treating. Its a fun time of year here as well!
November 1st, 2007 at 11:44 am, zoom Says:
My Lands! The house with about 40 carved pumpkins held me in amazement. That had to cost hundreds of dollars and hundreds of man hours.. I am in awe..
You have an adorable family.
November 1st, 2007 at 12:01 pm, Misty Says:
That’s Right! I had forgotten he said that…
We do have a great city, don’t we? I have lived in Michigan, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Kentucky and New York and there has NEVER been a better city than Boise… Honestly.
That’s why it’s so good to be home!
November 1st, 2007 at 12:54 pm, June Cutoff Cash Says:
Really? There was never a razor blade in candy? Why, then, did my (also a therapist) mother have to BITE all my candy to ensure it was safe? Which, by the way, may not have been the safest technique.
That elephant costume is the cutest thing ever.
November 1st, 2007 at 1:03 pm, Chandra Says:
I want to live on that beautiful, beautiful street. Love your costumes! I’m sick of telling you both how stinking cute you are. So did Delaney survive the night?
November 1st, 2007 at 1:17 pm, Katy Says:
Halloween in the suburbs south of Boston is NOT as much fun as Boise looks. Pumpkin smashers, toilet-paper-ers, eggers, shaving creamers, and other nasty teenagers rule the night. I’m sure there are nice fun things to, but I am blinded to them by my bad halloween attitude.Why didn’t I think of saloon girl and gambler? Danmit.
November 2nd, 2007 at 7:19 pm, Kelly Says:
I haven’t commented in awhile but am still a faithful reader. I love that you’re bragging about Boise! It is a great place to live and Halloween is fun here, not super scary dangerous.
We’ve never taken our kids down “that street”. Not even when my husband’s uncle lived there. Hmmm. Maybe next year.