Professional Trick-or-Treater

On Monday, October 31, Adam dressed in his Dennis the Menace costume in the morning so he could participate in the day care's Halloween parade.

The day's report was that he was the only Dennis the Menace, everyone thought he was cute, he didn't see the need in staying in the line for the parade and had to be reeled back in . . . and in the end, after the parade was over, he refused to let Ms. Tiffany change his clothes, so he wore his costume all day long.

That evening we ate on the couch, and Adam inhaled a big bowl (with a big person fork) of pesto pasta. Around 6 o'clock we made our way out the door and ran into our first trick-or-treater, a 4 year old Spiderman, and his small dog. Yelling "A DOG! A DOG!" and running up and down the front walkway was just what Adam needed to get pumped for the night.

As I suspected, Adam is an expert trick-or-treater. And why not?
1) You get to dress up and people tell you you're cute.
2) You get to go on a walk.
3) You "get" to bang on people's front doors.
4) You get to say "HI!" and "BYE!" to all your neighbors.
5) You get a bunch of candy.

The extrovert in Adam picked up the point of trick-or-treating very quickly. You knock on someone's door, you grin really big, they smile at you, and then they give you treats. What's not to like? By the end (about 10 houses), Adam's excitement was off the chart and he was grinning at every stranger like they were his long lost friends. The only conflict came when we stepped inside the Birds' house to chat with a small party of the neighbors, and Adam didn't understand a) why we had to leave their house, and b) why we couldn't just go into everyone's house.

A quick trip around up the street and back turned into a 45 minute event, but when we got back Adam got to enjoy the other side of Halloween -- the part where you give out candy to other kids at your door. This part, to Adam, was just as spectacular. He even burst out a "Thank you!" when he heard Dad give other kids candy. A little late on the "Thank yous," but I suppose after hearing the word over and over again in one night can really do the trick.

After the trick or treating came to an end, Dennis the Menace got a bath and slept very, very well that night.