Halloween Time and Empty Threats

Never-ending Halloween
Do you remember when Halloween was one day of fun? You’d dress up ALL day, but it was only ONE day. Man have things changed…
This year, the Halloween season started early in October. With small events such as pumpkin carving, costume design, and some minor house decorating, we were getting in the spirit early! A 3 year-old definitely reminds you of the excitement of the seasons.
Event #1: Molly had a costume party the Saturday prior to Halloween. Our spirits high (some more than others), excitement in the air, we dressed up as a Cowboy (Mason) and Indians! It was a fun party, with lots of good food, scary excitement, and of course, candy!!! Yumm.
Event #2: Still feeling buzzed by our first candy overdose of the season, it was Truck or Treating time at the church. Excitedly, we dressed up again! The event was fun and provided for more candy! Now, we were selective. Re-distributing the unwanted candy, we had a pile of the “best” candy to last us the next 24 hours. Somehow Jes’s wig started to fall apart, Tori was no longer a Baby Indian, but now a pumpkin, and Mason ditched the gun and holster. Were we starting to break?
Event #3/4 Still whirling from Truck or Treat, the next day Mason’s school allowed the children to dress up as animals or Mr./Mrs. Noah (it’s a Baptist school). There was games, rides, prizes, and of course…candy. Mason went as a turtle (his costume from last year that barely fit). Later that night it was “Boo”da fest in our little town. All the local businesses and government officials hand out candy on Main Street. Our Halloween spirit quickly falling apart, we parents didn’t dress up. Tori was now a princess (?). Mason was a gunless cowboy with a badge (half Sheriff/half Cowboy?) More candy… Oh…and coupons and advertisements.
Event #5 – Halloween Night. By Friday, candy for breakfast seemed almost normal. The pumpkins on our front porch looked like a pile of orange oatmeal. Mason was drunk on sugar and Tori had a multiple costume disorder. Off we went to Trick or Treat. Thankfully, it got boring after about 30 minutes, so we headed to the YMCA event, which we ALL had a blast. Pony rides, train rides, bouncy things, a petting zoo, games and prizes are all great substitutes for candy!
Event # 6. Just when I think it’s over, Walmart has everything Halloween 50% off the following day. $50.00 worth of stuff and one large bag of M&M’s, we cleared all Halloween items from our house, scraped up the pumpkin mush on the front porch, and started adding more healthy foods into our diet. It was a fun week, but nothing like I remember growing up. Mason enjoyed it so much, he asked if we could do “Halloween again tomorrow?”

Empty Threats
By Halloween, Mason was pretty wired with all the events and candy. Halloween day, by the time Jes got home from work, Mason had already had multiple time-out’s and was even spanked once. The threat of “we won’t go trick or treating” was now being used. Finally, on the third naughty instance, Jes quickly put Mason in time-out, de-costumed him, and said, “That’s it, we’re not going”. Ashlee was stunned. “We’re not going...”, she asked? She had just got everyone ready! After a quick discussion, we realized how much we are both hated empty threats…so… we weren’t going.
Time-out over, Jes explained to Mason that he had lost his privilege and we weren’t going out tonight. We watched as Mason’s lower lip started to quiver, his eyes filled with water, and he squeaked, “o..k..”. He then started to sob. Not a fit cry, not a injured cry, but a cry both his parents recognized as, “I screwed up and now I’m really regretful”. We had never heard this cry before and it brought tears to our eyes. He only cried for a few minutes, then accepted his fate. He had pushed us too far. After about 15 minutes, we asked if he wanted to earn back his privilege. Now Mason could see the light again and excitedly agreed to do whatever it took! Eagerly, for the next 15 minutes, Mason picked up shoes, helped clean the kitty litter box, threw away garbage, organized his room, and whatever odd chore we could come up with. Then, with family hugs, we put his costume back on, and headed out!
The rest of the night was a success. We all had fun, and Mason was the best little boy we could ask for! Man...it's hard being a parent.