Halloween Hangover

Lexi the Lion

I woke up this morning with a pounding headache and a rolling stomach. No, I didn't enjoy too many adult beverages last night. It was Halloween and all the screaming, squealing, and sugar got to me.

Halloween is not ALL bad. I do enjoy seeing how excited the kids get when they don their costumes and head out to the streets to see what treasures they will receive from the generous people in my parents' neighborhood. I have to say I get a little caught up in the excitement as well. I'm a sucker for holidays in general and just want good memories to be made.

Will as Luigi

And we did make some great memories last night. It was the first Halloween the Lexi was aware...maybe even awake...of what we were doing. As long as she was holding her Elmo bucket in one hand and a peanut butter cup in the other (didn't matter that the wrapper was still on), she was very content. Livi and Will excitedly ran from door to door and then had fun joining some friends to finish up the night. Everyone had a great time and I loved watching them enjoy themselves.

It's always the before and after that gets to me. First, it's the deciding what to be. Honestly this hasn't been TOO stressful up to this point but I have a feeling as Livi gets a few years older it may be a bit more dramatic. We had a little meltdown about how her cowboy hat fit but once we strategically placed a pony on top of her head to hold it in place, she was happy. The kids always have those indecisive moments where they try to convince me they want to be something else. Sorry kids. Costumes bought/thrown together already. There's always next year to be ____ (fill in the blank with the latest costume request).

Cowgirl Livi

And then the after comes and it is riddled with sugar overloaded kids who are tired and queasy. Trying to get them to bed after an exciting night is hard enough. Doing it after they have eaten 10 fun sized candy bars is even harder. And, oh yeah, it's a school night and they have a spelling test the next day and we haven't practiced the words yet. Squeeze a practice test in, brush teeth, listen to some whining and finally they are all asleep.

And when I wake up the next morning with this Halloween hangover, I ask myself, "Was it worth it?" It always is. They were the cutest cowgirl/Luigi/lion or ____ (fill in the blank with whatever they decided to be). We all had fun and made lots of great memories...and I got to pick through their buckets first for my favorites :)