Annual jack o' lantern. Isn't he scary?! ;-) |
All right, so Halloween is traditionally a bad weather day around here in WNY. It's rained the past two years, and this year was shaping up to be no exception, with gray skies and wind abounding. Meanwhile, inside our house, a storm cloud was perched firmly over my daughter's head. She was not feeling 100%, with new cold-like symptoms developing, and expressed dissatisfaction with some of her costume details. Every Halloween, right around 6 pm, somebody in our house is crying. Every.single.year. :0
Here's the Catholic Librarian crew, just prior to the festivities beginning:
Anne initially refused to pose for the picture and only Daddy's coaxing made this happen... |
"Look. IT'S ANNA!! You two found each other!!"
Very cute.
At any rate, we made our way through our regular route, and then Mommy was very happy to head home with 2 tired, but sugared up, kids in tow, and an empty "water bottle." By the time we got the kids settled and in bed, it was much later than usual. And we were hoping for some relaxing time. ;-) We head upstairs.
Approximately 25 seconds later...
"What's that?! I think it's Anne."
"No it isn't!!"
Denial is always the first reaction I have when children wake up anytime within the 9 pm to 7 am span.
"It is. Let me see if I can soothe her real fast."
*5 very long minutes elapse*
"I don't know what's wrong. She's crying. And she won't talk."
Great.
But I figure, Mommy's Powers sometimes dwarf Daddy's Powers when it comes to night soothings. I head in, feeling confident:
"Anne, what's wrong, Honey?"
*violent shaking of head*
I have another moment of unease when I see that sunny little Anne looks like something straight out of The Exorcist, hair sticking up, eyes wild, thrashing limbs. All offers of water, back rubs, application of Vick's VapoRub, extra pillows and snuggles are resoundly rejected. She won't say what's wrong, nor will she stop wailing. Relaxation time is officially over.
She refuses to stop crying unless I sleep in her room, and let me tell you: Bodies over 25 years of age are NOT meant to sleep on the floor anymore. Every muscle in my body ached the next day. But there I stayed until about 3:30 am. In between being woken to be asked:
"Is it morning time yet?"
"NO dear, let's go back to sleep, OK Muffin?!"
At 3:30 am, Anne started coughing. And coughing and coughing. I knew she wasn't going to be able to go back to sleep with it that bad. So she and I headed downstairs for cough drops, fresh water, and to prop up on the couch for some Golden Girls viewing while we waited for the coughing attack to pass. She very happily set up shop at one end of the couch, while I curled up on the other. I own the full Golden Girls collection on DVD, so I popped in a disk and hit "PLAY ALL." Glorious, so glorious, I tell you. Three hours of soothing Golden Girls hilarity followed in the background.
After assuring that Anne had finished her cough drop, she and I propped up on pillows to try and fall asleep. Anne has gotten quite long legged of late, and soon she was stretched out and taking up 95% of the sofa, snoring loudly without a care in the world. I was curled into the fetal position on the other end, dreaming of being able to move my legs. I woke up at 6:30 when Mike came downstairs, my poor legs having moved onto *the coffee table* in an effort to not be twisted like a pretzel any longer.
Anne was still asleep and he took the reigns from there, allowing me to go upstairs to try and sleep for an hour or so. The time change couldn't have come on a better night.
I was undecided as to whether to go to Mass or not given how little sleep I had gotten, but ultimately I ended up going, and I am SO GLAD that I did. As ever, it cheered me right up. After Mass, I spent the afternoon following football and making my mother's patented recipe for chicken soup with meatballs, which proved incredibly soothing. And then I was exhausted and ready for bed well before 9 pm. :)
Hence, there were some fun moments, but my Halloween was a bit tiring this year. How was yours? Do detail in the comments. :)
Our Halloween went fairly well. My daughter wanted to be a princess, and the only one in her size I could find was Elsa. My daugher has not, however, seen Frozen, so to her it was just a delightful princess dress. She totally didn't get it when several people walking past us on Halloween night called her Elsa. She irritatingly corrected them with her own name.
ReplyDeleteMy son was my daughter's accessory, being costumed as a knight. Last year when my daughter was a princess, my son was the dragon. I hope he accustoms himself to being an accessory, as I don't see that ending for a few years yet. My son takes after my side of the family with a rather large head (where he keeps his extra brains), unlike my husband's side of the family and their rather small heads. So, my son's knight helmet/visor didn't fit him. We punted with a cowl made from metallic fabric.
We had the best winter in 4 years on Halloween night, so I can't complain. The kids had a very deficient dinner, and we were off for tricks and treats. My son quickly learned that if he stood quietly at the door with his bucket out, he could double, and sometimes triple his take at any one stop. My daughter just wanted to cover ground. Not surprisingly, I ended up carrying my son home. At nearly 50 lbs of toddler and 6 blocks to traverse home, that was an upper body workout I was noticing the next day.
Mass the next day went reasonably well. Neither of my children attempted to escape by crawling under the pews, and my son was only able to run up the center isle once.
Last year, I think that my kids were NOT sick maybe 4 weeks in total between the beginning of October and the beginning of May. The kids seem to be enjoying much better health this year, which I hope holds.
I hope your little one feels better soon!
Our Halloween was extremely tiring - my youngest daughter is very sick with a very nasty cold. I have taken her to the doctor three times since Friday, and she's tested negative for everything leaving us with nothing but a cold virus that we just have to wait out with no medication. Please pray for her healing and my sanity. I'm about to go insane not being able to do anything when she is so miserable. :(
ReplyDeleteAmy, LOVE IT! You need to start a blog. ;-) I love when you write in with life stories!
ReplyDeleteCindy, prayers my dear! I know, we've all been passing the same virus around the family for weeks, I think. And that's exactly it, like when I had Anne at the doctor a few weeks ago, it's the cold virus, nothing they can do, you just have to wait it out. Super miserable. I hope that she is starting to feel better!
ReplyDelete