I simply had no idea that I would react so strongly to seeing my little guy all dressed up and ready to experience his first Halloween. It was a strange fusion between my fond memories as a child and realizing that he was forming his own memories as I watched. From this point forward, we will move through each year, growing our own traditions, looking back at old costume pictures, and laughing over stories of what happened. And it was just us. Dan, me, and Cole. For some reason, that meant more to me than I realized it would.
When I got home Monday night, I really had no idea how special the night would turn out to be. Dan said that he has always wanted to setup his lights, music, and smoke machine but never had before. He wondered what I thought of that. “Sounds like fun”, I said. I put candy in a bowl and counted pieces so we would know how many kids we had (Something I got from my dad). Put Cole in his costume just in time for the early trick-or-treaters to start roaming the streets. It was a nice enough evening that we just opened the living room picture window and “set up shop” to give our candy away. Cole explored the candy bowl and the open window, surely wondering what the heck we were up to. When the first kids came, I put the candy in his hand and helped him give it away. It touched my heart that he was learning how to give (rather than receive) on such a traditionally “gimme, gimme” holiday. This was followed by a burst of laughter as he took a piece of candy and dropped it out the window. He hadn’t yet gotten the idea that he was to wait until a child was there with a bag. Apparently, it was just as fun to him without the kids.
When it was our turn to roam the streets, Dan offered to stay back for the trick-or-treaters. He was having fun with his setup. He had his cordless microphone hooked up so he could surprise kids with scary voices and personalized messages over the loud speaker. “Hey, look everyone! It’s Batman at my house”. He is tickled by the looks on their faces when they realize he is talking about them. So Cole and I set out hand-in-hand for the big event. He received plenty of oohs and aahs from onlookers. “Come look at the baby” was a common reaction from the friendly people giving out candy. Given that Cole has no experience or desire for candy at this point in his life, he was more entertained by the crunchy leaves in the street than by any house visit. All-in-all, it was perfect. We went up one side of the street and down the other to stop at the last house before home; Papa Bud's where him and Nana Karen were ready with a special treat.
Did I say it was perfect? It really was.
