This political season has been rough. I think it might have been worse than in the past, but I don’t think it is anything new. Our children see how we react to everything, including this. Just like most other, I have gone out of my way to try and show grace and be friendly, even to those of the opposite political side. I did vote for Trump, but not because of some loyalty I have for the Republican party, definitely not, but specifically because of policies. Isaac and Jordan know this.
We were walking around doing some trick-or-treat’ing on Saturday night and there was a fair share of Trump and Biden signs. I didn’t think anything of it. All of the sudden, we walked up to a house with a Biden sign, and Isaac looks at me through his T-Rex costume and he says, “Dad are we gonna get candy from some of those Biden supporter people? You know how kids say things like THOSE Biden supporter people. Was I taken aback? Yes. I have really tried hard not to show ill towards someone of another political viewpoint. Did he see this come from me? Maybe he saw the chaos on the news. I don’t know.
Once I realized what he said, I had to make sure that he understood that I didn’t believe that this family that supported Joe Biden was some sort of half-bread people. They had a beautiful family. A mom, dad, and kids dressed up in some of the cutest princess dresses you have ever seen before. I made sure to tell him that we can disagree on things, but still respect each other because we are still American’s and can still take candy from them. That may or may not have an effect on him in the future, but at least he can see his old man trying to be kind to strangers. The rioters, public agitators, and politicians do not accurately reflect America and Americans. I’m not being passive here, but we have to teach our kids how to be decent people and I think that 99.8% of people are doing it right.
Why does this have to be strange and uncommon? I don’t think it does.
2020 has been a year of cancelations and disappointments, but yesterday, Halloween, was the most normal it has felt in a while.
I woke up feeling decent. My major complaint over the past week has been fatigue. I have always loved sleep, but I have slept so much it’s not really enjoyable anymore. I am sleeping a good 16 or more hours a day. Most of this at night where I will sleep from 8:30 pm to noon or after only waking long enough to take Eli to daycare in the morning. Chris has been awesome through it all picking up the slack and allowing me to sleep all I need, but I can tell fatigue is taking a toll on him as well.
Thankfully, I was able to enjoy the Halloween festivities with my family. I got worn out and headed back to the car before Chris and Isaac, but I managed to get about 3,000 steps beforehand. The exercise felt great and the weather was close to perfect.
Enough about cancer, let’s talk about our fun Halloween! Our Saturday was uneventful up until time to go trick or treating. There was a lot of uncertainty as to how the community would react to COVID restrictions. Whether anyone would be doing the traditional handing out of candy.
Our fabulous church had a drive-through trunk or treat that started the evening off with a lot of laughs, waves from great friends, and tons of candy!
From the church, we headed to Sonic for dinner. It’s hard to pass up fifty cent corn dogs. We then went to a parking lot to wait for some friends and eat our dinner in a COVID picnic fashion.
Some great friends met up with us and we decided to go to a new spot to trick or treat that had a great reputation for good participation and tons of candy. This is where things felt normal. There were so many houses decorated and people walking the streets laughing and having a great time. Of course, everyone was trying to follow the rules. Candy was being given in creative ways to allow distance from the candy giver and the trick or treaters. Families were waiting for their turns to approach and moving aside to allow passing on sidewalks. Everyone had a wonderful time and the kids came home with millions of candy calories in their bags.
I am sure you are wondering about the costumes! Isaac had his mindset months ago that he wanted to be T-Rex. You know the one. The six-foot inflatable one. He had to hang his head out of the car at the church and gave us a ton of laughs trying to get candy with his little T-Rex arms. Here are a few of our favorite pictures of him
Hanging out of the car!T-Rex wanted a bite of the full moon!
Eli was our “Baby Clown”. He wasn’t sure what all of the excitement was. Our first stop every year is across the street at one of our favorite neighbor’s house. In the picture below Eli was trying to figure it all out.
That is one of my favorite pictures of the night! This specific costume carries great memories and emotions for me. This costume came into our home 16 years ago when Jordan was about 17 months. He wore this costume. We attended Boo at the Zoo in Little Rock, Arkansas where Jordan won the cutest costume.
I kept this costume in my dresser for years. Not really knowing why I just couldn’t get rid of it. Then Isaac came along. When he was roughly the same age, 23 months, he wore it for Halloween. Again I kept it. Two kids had now worn it. It would be something I kept forever. We had no idea another baby would get to wear it. When we found out about baby number three and that it was a boy, I knew he too would wear this costume. So at 22 months, Eli became “Baby Clown” number three!
What I didn’t realize during all those years was that when I was roughly the same age my parents had dressed me up as a clown! Mom posted a picture a while back showing me as the original “Baby Clown”.
For your viewing pleasure, here is a collage showing all four of us! If you look closely at my picture, you see my hat had the same kind of hair. How cool! Also, this picture shows how much my boys look like me.
I hope your Halloween was nice and that the upcoming holidays bring much love and joy to your families! Halloween starts my absolute favorite two months of the year!
From Left to Right- Top: Me and Jordan. Bottom: Isaac and Eli