Spoooky Cycle: Yes, I'm already counting down the years until Sprite decides she no longer wants to trick or treat. What? You're looking for honesty, right? Well, you got it!

I admit it. I'm not a fan of Halloween. Oh, I like the holiday just fine. It's just the dressing up and having to escort the under-aged dressed up that I'm not a fan of.

Sprite's school had their annual Fall Festival on Friday. We came, we saw, we borrowed Kayla's daddy (John was working late) to carry Sprite through the puddled streets since it had been raining all day and getting to the venue was akin to boarding a water ride, one you had no idea would begin at any moment as you stepped across the street. Despite some near misses, we arrived safely and had a great time, closing the place down. Sprite wore her Alice in Wonderland costume proudly, not once mentioning how her brunette hair was detracting from the overall "Alice-ness" of the look.

Until Saturday.

On Saturday, I had sent Sprite off with her dad for the morning since I would be taking her trick or treating at the mall later in the day while he worked (yet again). I'm not sure what their conversation consisted of as they went off on their errands, but allegedly, she had confided in her father that the lack of blonde wig was influencing her portrayal of a cartoon character and she needed her motivation to believe she was following a white rabbit.

Honey, millions of people followed the white rabbit back in the 60's and 70's without any motivation at all. But let's digress from that. (Sprite, if you're reading this at any point before the age of 18, you will probably need to wait until you're at least the age of legal before I explain it.)

They came back with a blonde wig. A wig that actually cost more than we had paid for the dress and the shoes AND the headband. Oy.

Let me be honest here. I don't like this picture. The smile did not make it to her eyes, and that puts me off. Yes, I can not like my own child's photo once in a while. However, Blue saves the photo by making a cameo and possibly looking for dog treats.

Let's also keep in mind that the wig is for ADULTS. John tried on the wig. It fit. (No, he wouldn't let me take a picture. His pride is worth so much, people.) I tried on the wig. It didn't fit. Sprite tried on the wig, it didn't fit, but she was determined to make it work. (This also confirms she got SOMETHING from me, if only in the head circumference shallow end of the gene pool.)

We did at least get one worthy shot out of the bunch, and while you can still see the brunette playing peek-a-boo through the sides, the blonde does its job. Of course, once she turned around, the currently trendy two tone look reared its head since, while the wig was stationed toward the front, there was a lack of coverage in the back.

(Memo to self, paint the front door. It's been three years already since you installed it. Don't you think you should FINISH it?) (Yes, my memos have more snark than Siri.)

With the wig precariously in place, honestly, a good gust of wind would have made off with the damn thing since the headband was the only thing holding it down, we drove over to the mall to meet up with Rachel, her girls, and a few other friends of theirs to join Malloween. (I don't think they call it that. They should.)

As soon as we entered the covered play area and Sprite saw her friends Lilli and Elizabeth, the wig was off and she was running toward the slide.

Luckily, I was able to slap the hair piece back on and hope for the best when it came time to do the actual trick or treating.

Fast forward thirty minutes, when we had only combed through one wing of the large outdoor mall (there were two more just spilling over with employees ready to hand out treats), Sprite thankfully announced she didn't want any more candy, coincidentally just after I had asked Rachel how many more years we would need to invest in costumes before Sprite would consider it passe. (It seems ten more years is a good number. A good round number. A LONG number.)

Now, here's what I don't like about escorting Sprite around in costume. I am not in costume. I am usually hovering somewhere close by yelling out "Say thank you!" as she grabs her Snickers and runs. I am usually prodding her to move on while she wants to stop and examine EVERY. PIECE. OF. CANDY that enters her orange bucket. I am also usually the one who has to break her little candy loving heart when I pull the "keep 10 pieces and the rest goes" rule out of my ass and drop it on her mere minutes after she enters the house with her take of the taffy. I become impatient with the entire process, finding it difficult to engage in the fun, lose myself in the merriment.

Meh, I'm totally scrooging on her buzz. I promise, next year, I'll be better.

And John will take her trick or treating.

There. Much better.

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Trick or treat! Take a seat! I've got some Spinners you need to meet...

Peg over at Square Peg in a Round Hole

Mama Badger over at Out of The Boondocks and Into The Burbs...

 Vandy over at The Testosterone Three and Me

Eileen over at Giving Her All She's Got -New to the Spin Cycle!

Stacy over at Stacy Uncorked

Kate over at Recommended Daily Dose

SuziCate over at The Water Witch's Daughter

CaJoh over at Ca-Joh

Mrs. Bear over at Outnumbered Two To One -Updated Friday! Fresh Spin!

Ginny Marie over at Lemon Drop Pie -Updated Friday! Fresh Spin!

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The Spin Cycle is taking a break for the month of November as my family tries to fit a birthday, an anniversary, a vacation, and Thanksgiving into 30 days. Oh, wait. 26 days. We're already four down. Crap! I gots things to do!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and we'll be back in December with another Spin Cycle and a return of the Spin Cycle Secret Santa!

Much love and happiness to you all.

Oh, and snark too. Never forget the snark.

Comments

[Kim]

I stay home and hand out the goodies while my husband herds the children about. I'm pretty sure we both think we got the good end of the deal.

[Michele]

Yep, don't miss dressing the kids up and escorting them around the neighborhood. JR was always much better at that.

[Jan]

While we never minded the costumes or following the kids through the neighborhood, we were more than a little relieved when they became to old to trick-or-treat. Because Sprite's a girl, she may decide she's too "mature" for it all around 12 (boys take a little longer), so you may not have *that* long to wait.

[VandyJ]

I get the joy of herding boys next year--Turbo decided that dad has to stay home and hand out treats. It is much easier to do when I can go with a friend. I hang back and let the kids go--Turbo is actually pretty good at making sure Bruiser gets his fair share of the loot.

[Kate]

Hey, I was really counting on the spin for next week! And I'm not sure if we can be friends any longer if you hate Halloween. It would be like if you hated birthdays. Maybe it's because I used to have to endure 30+ kids on Halloween (there's a level of hell for that, I'm sure) and even worse (as you're asking yourself what could be worse) the day AFTER Halloween where the kids ate 145 pounds of candy (at least) and didn't fall into slumber until 2a.

Compared to that...taking Finn out is CAKE! Plus I get to hang out with friends and make snarky comments as he runs from house to house. I do yell at him to say "thank you" though. Next year I'm planning on bringing a flask filled with wine.

Anywho...yea...totally hating on you for vacationing and all the other fun things you get to do in November. We should have a convo via FB or email to talk about the Secret Santa Spin...I'm more than happy to get the ball rolling this month and you can do the actual posting (since you're going to be VACATIONING--it's been so long for me, I don't remember what that feels like) if you'd like or we can divide it up however. Or if you just want to take over the whole thing again (as it is your property and all), I'm totally cool with that. I just thought I'd offer some (wo)man hours if you'd like to split the time/work burden. Let me know!

[Ginny Marie]

Blue looks so cute! And so does Sprite. :) Lily and Emmy were Rapunzel, and we decided their natural blonde hair was just like Rapunzel's hair, so fortunately I was saved from having to buy two wigs!

I'm joining in this week, just in time before you take a break! Have a wonderful November!

http://www.lemondroppie.com/2011/11/halloween-recap.html

[Rachel]

heh heh heh. But we survived! And actually it goes like this: "go see that lady! No, that lady! What do you say to get candy? DID YOU SAY THANK YOU??? SAY THANK YOU!!!! WAIT FOR US!!!!!!"

[kaylen]

Halloween can be a bit much. I remember many years where it all ended in tears. Tears over having to stop knocking on doors. Tears over not getting more candy. Tears over me stealing some. Tears over not being allowed to eat EVERY single piece before bed.

[kaylen]

Oh-and she looks BEAUTIFUL by the way. So pretty.
Keep the wig. Even though it doesn't fit perfectly, it will come in handy again some day. (maybe by John even!)

[crittersandcrayons]

Your kid looks adorable! I'm finally making my way to your blog after you commented on a guest post of mine many months ago on Scary Mommy (The Myth Of The Super Mom)....I want to say thank you for the comment! Yours made me laugh....I think it was the "bend down to her uterus because it is clearly superior" comment you left. :)

[Lisa]

Yes, escorting was fun for us too because Jonathan kept changing his costume and wanted something different every other moment. *sigh*

[Weekend Cowgirl]

She looked adorable!!!! I think the wig "worked"! She looks like a happy little girl who loves her wig.