Halloween

Aaron was a doctor for Halloween this year.  I don't believe in buying costumes and I don't know how to sew, so I tried to come up with something I could put together easily.  Since he had a doctor's bag and a real, child-size stethoscope (from Lakeshore Learning), all I needed was a white lab coat.  Unfortunately Thom didn't have a shirt that worked, but Kim's daughter had a uniform shirt that worked perfectly.  I printed out "Dr. Aaron" on a clear mailing label and his costume was complete.

Aunt Lily, Thom's sister, had sent Audrey a Winnie-the-Pooh outfit last year that was for this Halloween and it fit perfectly.  Aaron loves Winnie-the-Pooh, so he enjoyed her costume.

I'm not a big fan of giving kids candy, but we did do some trick-or-treating.  At noon, I took him up to the local Trader Joe's shopping center where the stores were giving out candy for trick-or-treaters.  Most of the kids were in store-bought costumes of superheroes and princesses and he got a lot of attention for his doctor costume.  Several people called out "What's up, doc?" as we walked along, and one woman in the grocery store asked Aaron to check her heart.

After dinner we hit 9 neighbor's houses.  He enjoyed trick-or-treating a little more than last year.  But unlike last year, this time he knew what candy was and he knew he wanted it.  I still managed to give away most of it and the rest we put in a candy bowl on the kitchen table.  He was allowed one treat after dinner each night.  One neighbor we knew well had given out baggies of home made cookies which he wanted the first night.  In addition to candy, he also got some Goldfish and Utz pretzels (in Halloween shapes) and he enjoyed those treats just as much, choosing Goldfish over candy one night.  After a week, I put the candy in the cupboard and he forgot about it for several days. 

When he does have a sugary treat after dinner, he gets hyper.  It's a myth that sugar doesn't make kids hyper and I don't need any more of it than necessary.  So we allow him some treats, enough that it's not something forbidden and therefore more desirable.  But we keep it to a minimum and make it something special.