Sunday, October 31, 2010

The Misadventures of Halloween 2010

I know, I know. It looks like a perfectly fabulous Halloween, right? Evan's all-smiles while swinging at the pinata during a friend's birthday/Halloween party...

And they spent an hour or so gathering plenty of goodies on a crisp but comfortable October evening. Every child had a BLAST collecting enough sugar to keep our dentist in business till 2015 and hanging out at our friend's house.

"I know!" we said. "Let's go to the local haunted house! It's small and free and lots of fun for little kids!!"
Everyone was on board with this idea. We waited in line and checked out the front yard's spooky decor. Pretty cool. Spooky but not over-the-top. Evan liked walking up to random people with his mask and just staring at them. We laughed. We chatted. We warmed up our hands in our pockets.
We killed time taking silly pictures. What a fun night!
Moments before we walked into the backyard's haunted house, I convinced Evan that the set-up really wasn't that scary. After all, even Corinne went through it several times last year. And he could sleep in our bed if he was a little scared! Come on kid! You can do this!!

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

Notice how there are no "after" pictures?

Ever try to carry an 8 year old through a haunted house? Ever try to stop your own screaming in the meat locker with devils and werewolves jumping out at you so that your bawling son won't be even more petrified? It's not an easy feat. But I pushed those bloody bags aside and dragged my kid through, all the while he's whimpering,

"I hate Halloween! It's scary! I don't want to ever trick or treat or dress up again!!"

Great. FABULOUS job, Tracey. I have unintentionally succeeded in assuring Evan's presence in our bed for another 3 or 4 years.

FYI, it's a great and free haunted house in Plainfield, IL. They collect food to feed the homeless instead of admission! It is definitely scary but very short, so if you want to see how your kids may react to an expensive haunted house, this may be a good starter spot.

Souls of the Forsaken - check it out next year!!


16 comments:

Doll Clothes Gal Pal said...

Such fun! :) Hope the kids didn't spoil their appetites on candies. :p

Rebecca said...

I did that with my older son. Whoops. It happens, don't worry - he'll get over it... sooner or later.

Balancing Lisa said...

Looks like a fun Halloween! Minus the terrified child of course! I'm too scared of all things haunted so you just set me back a few more years in trying to take my little one someday! ;)

http://lisafergus.blogspot.com/

Elisa @ Globetrotting in Heels said...

oh no! Poor Evan! Sarah and Sascha always wanted to go see a haunted house during Halloween, but I refused. Pretty sure Sarah would have ended up in our bed too, and the girl's got long legs and she kick a lot. No way.

Sounds like a fun Halloween up until then though, right?

BTW, your husband is HOT! No wonder you have such cute kids, you lovely couple, you :-)

Tonya said...

he sounds like my 8 year old.

tracey.becker1@gmail.com said...

Elisa,

I agree.

AiringMyLaundry said...

It's okay, I also get freaked out in haunted houses.

Unknown said...

Free or not, you could not convince me to walk through a haunted house! Aw . . . poor Evan. Hopefully he's okay by now. :-D (and I hope your back's not paying the price)

Serendipity is Sweet said...

Aww. You are brave. I'd never even attempt that with my kids.
Great pics you did get though :)

BusyDad said...

HAha! glad the beginning of your Halloween was fun. My kid hates that scary stuff too. Even going to the Halloween store freaks him out. He makes me walk down the aisles first, in case those motion sensor laughing ghosts get triggered.

BusyDad said...

HAha! glad the beginning of your Halloween was fun. My kid hates that scary stuff too. Even going to the Halloween store freaks him out. He makes me walk down the aisles first, in case those motion sensor laughing ghosts get triggered.

BusyDad said...

Hey, 2 comments for the price of one!

BusyDad said...

Now 3... ok 4.

tracey.becker1@gmail.com said...

You are all welcome to post multiple times like Jim does to boost my comment number. Feel free!

Brandie said...

Aww :( I'm sorry he didn't like it. My husband works at a haunted house (but not the one you went to) and good for you for trying to get him through quickly. And I hope they listened and backed off when you asked them too!
But, you'd be amazed how many parents will take young kids through and ask them to be extra scary when clearly the child is done and needs to come out ASAP.

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