As a parent of two toddlers (I need to stop calling the big one a toddler, huh?), I’m always looking for ways to reduce stress and anxiety. Holidays are times where those things come to a peak. There are big expectations, a lot of excitement and emotions. So instead of trying really hard to get a good picture of them in their costumes when all they want to do is get candy and everyone is tired and tantruming, I did it a little different.
The week before Halloween.
It was great - we built excitement about the actual day, spread out the fun, and I got the pictures I wanted. We started the day off opening up their Halloween packages from their grandparents, and then taking a trip to a playground for the first time in a year.
They were so excited, they just ran around in circles screaming when we got there. Suddenly E can climb up everything instead of wandering the perimeter of the playground. It was amazing to see him actually use all the equipment, and to see his confidence grow every time he’d make it to the top of whatever he was climbing.
I’m pretty sure G has no memory of the last time we went to a playground, so he was having fun throwing himself down slides and running around. But even better (in his opinion) was that there were a ton of leaves there, so of course he ended up in a pile of them and was super happy about it.
It did make me a bit sad to think of all the playgrounds they’ve missed out on this year along with everything else. I’m really happy we got this one morning of normalcy, though. We went early enough that we were the only ones on the playground, and it was a lucky October morning where it was 60 degrees at 8am.
So by the time I was asking them to take pictures, they’d already had a pretty fun day, and had chances to get their energy out. Also, I bribed them. I know taking pictures is not always fun, and mostly for my benefit (although maybe in the future they’ll be happy to have them), so I told them they could have cookies after we took pictures.
I also kept it pretty quick. I’d prepped the area and costume before hand, so it might have taken us five minutes in total? Seriously not a bad deal for two cookies, which they ate while running around outside (need to burn off that sugar somehow!)
So without further ado, here are our little monsters:
Obviously the Sesame Street obsession is big in this house (have you meet our kittens?). Truthfully G likes Abby better than Elmo, but Elmo is a close second and goes so much better with the fuzzy cookie monster. (Also easier to find a costume than Abby - which is pretty much just a tutu and wings).
The costumes shed EVERYWHERE but both E and G seem pretty excited about them, and hopefully they’ll stay warm on Halloween!
