"i'm your huckleberry"
yesterday was halloween in these parts, so last night was the time to participate in the annual trick-or-treating ritual. now, for those of you who don't know, shannon and i have a 21-month old son named jack. so, for all intents and purposes, this was his first halloween. we weren't sure how "into it" he would be, but we wanted to take him on this costumed quest for confections.
yee-haw, did he love it. our little cowboy was classicly cute, complete with red hat, black cowboy boots, sheriff's badge, bandana, and make-up moustache. just looking at him made me melt like a mini-kit kat bar held in the sweaty hand of a sugared-up child hiding behind a plastic power ranger mask.
still, trick-or-treating with a less-than-two-year-old is kind of annoying. the houses here are on nice-sized lots, so you have a pretty significant walk between doorbell rings. and by pretty significant i mean, if your legs are about 12 inches long, as his are, its the equivilent of a quarter-mile walk for you and me. so, we carried him. and his pumpkin bucket. and his flashlight. and then, if you want to go to a different neighborhood, you have to get back into the van, strap the kid cowboy in the chair with an assortment of straps and buckles (safety first), and then proceed to do the whole thing over again on the next street. exhaustion ensues.
after what seemed like a day and a half of this (closer to 90 minutes), shannon and i were beat. we decided we had had enough tricks and jack had enough treats, so we would drive home. once again we proceeded with all the strapping. but on our way home, as shannon and i exchanged hallowed memories from halloweens of old, we heard little doc holliday, from underneath all the straps and buckles, "trick or treat! trick or treat!" well, actually it sounded quite a bit more like, "tit or teat," which has a whole different set of connotations, so we won't go there. in the context, we knew what he meant, and, softie that i am, i melted again, as aforementioned candy bar, and i declared that we were not done with halloween quite yet. we would re-enter the world of sheet ghosts and cheap disney costumes, not to mention the strapping and unstrapping again. but the little cowpoke had me wrapped around his tiny little finger, and so we proceded to more houses for tit or teating.
on our way home (again), shannon and i decided it was the most fun we had had on halloween for a very long time.
is there anyone here who is exhausted from meandering around suburbia, carrying a costumed toddler, in search of candy?
i'm your huckleberry,
greg.
everybody needs to laugh. one good way i have found to make that happen is to do a simple google image search for 'bad haircut.' when you do so, some of the following gems show up. thankfully, my 9th grade school picture does NOT show up. otherwise, it would certianly make this list! please laugh freely and without inhibition. thank you and have a nice day.
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I did have to juggle two treat bags and an umbrella and occasionally, a slippery buzz lightyear who fell down often.
my kid's costumes were not cheap and they were from disney. i do recall the days when we decided what we were going to be and scrounged something together with what we HAD! for now, nothing else would do but mr incredible and buzz lightyear.
funny story, gregory.
noticed that you are reading the new donald miller book. is it worth putting on my christmas list?
i really enjoyed reading all of the stuff on your blog. especially the steeler story. that lady should have been shot. haha
i know the end of napolean was dumb, but you have to admit that the dance was freakin awesome. plus kip is so funny. anytime i want my kids to laugh in class i just quote napolean. dude, can i have some tots?
now that huge bag of chocolate mocks me as i walk by. bully.
jack was yee haw perfection in that picture. man, he melts my heart and im 400 miles away.