Boo!

Well, we survived another Halloween (photos posted). I imagine it will only get worse and worse, but this year was not a pretty year given Doodles's competing all-greed for things chocolate vs. his all-fear of people in masks.

Last year I took Doodles and Pie on a hayride at our local farm stand. Oh, how he loved it! We went on it twice. For the entire year, he asked, "Is it time for the spooky hayride? Can we go on the spooky hayride?" and I'd have to explain that it only happens at Halloween time and I promised him we could go the next Halloween.

Fast forward to this Halloween. We go on the spooky hayride, me, the Pie, and Doodles. The Pie is completely nonchalant. Looking around. Observing calmly. Hanging out. Doodles is sitting next to me, a little unsure of things. And then the scary farmer man--with a seriously scary mask--comes chasing us. Doodles doesn't do anything except stiffen and lean into me a little. I spend the rest of the ride saying, "It's just a man in the mask. Just a man in the mask! Nothing to be afraid of; it's just a man in a mask." Towards the end of the ride, the farmer gets into a tractor decorated with corn, hay, and whatnot to chase the hayride. Doodles seems fine. We finish the ride, the Doodles gets a lollipop, Pie an apple. We walk around, look at the animals, do our produce shopping.

And then the nightmares begin. The no-longer-just-waking-up-to-climb-into-Mommy-and-
Daddy's-bed waking but the lying-in-bed-wake-up-Pie-screaming-and-crying-Moooooommmmmmy!-come-get-me! waking. And the next time we head to our local farm stand, Doodles protests. "I don't want to go."

Me: But you love to go!
Doodles: I don't want to go.
Me: Don't you want to pick out your Shabbat cookie? [Doodles gets an after-dinner treat after dinner every Friday night]
Doodles is clearly torn here.
Doodles: Where is the hayride?
Me: The hayride isn't going now. It's not open yet for the day.
Doodles: Is the hayride sleeping?
Me: Sure! The hayride is sleeping, getting ready for more kids to ride it.
Doodles: Do we have to ride it?
Me: No. Did you want to ride it?
Doodles: No! Where is the farmer and the corn car?
Me: He's not here. Remember, it's only a man in a mask!
Doodles: Is the farmer sleeping?
Me: Maybe! I do know that he's not here now.
Doodles: Where's the corn car?
Me: Away. Do you want to pick out your cookie?
Doodles thinks about it.
Doodles: Okay.

So I was definitely feeling trepidation about trick-or-treating. Doodles and Pie were both witches this year (when I asked Doodles what he wanted to be for Halloween, he said in no uncertain terms, "I want to be a witch! And Pie wants to be a witch, too!"), but when asked, he'll emphasize he's a friendly witch, even though Adam's taught him to say, "I'm going to get you, my pretty!" Surprisingly, though, trick or treating was fine. The year before last it was quiet so last year, I didn't buy a ton of candy. Of course we had a steady stream of trick or treaters all night and I worried we were going to run out of candy. So this year I bought a ton and it was another quiet year. The plus side to this was not many people out in masks, so Doodles was fine, except that we only went to a handful of houses (we only went where we knew the neighbors) and he would have preferred a few more.

And now we have a house full of candy that I'm going to end up eating. Luckily we rescued Doodles and Pie from the evils of candy around, as we borrowed an idea from one of Adam's coworkers. On Halloween night, after the trick-or-treating is done and everyone is asleep, the Switch Witch will come. The Switch Witch is a nice witch. All we need to do is bundle all our candy and leave it for her on the front porch (because I am so not getting into the concept of a witch entering the house. A friend of Doodles was told about the Tooth Fairy and she freaked at the idea of a fairy simply coming into their house, to the point where her father had to explain that the Tooth Fairy only comes if she's invited and that he went onto the Web and removed her name from the Tooth Fairy's list, so she won't come to their house). Then the Switch Witch comes and takes the candy and in its place leaves a toy that won't rot teeth and make children overly hyper. Doodles asked about her all night. "Is the Switch Witch sleeping now? Is the Switch Witch a nice witch? Is the Switch Witch here yet?" Brilliant, huh? If only the Switch Witch took care of grown-ups, too.