In the event that you are a (somewhat) regular reader of my humble little blog than you are undoubtedly already aware that I have an incredibly sweet, adorable if not head-bangingly frustrating three-year old son, Jack. And in the duration of his short time here on Earth I’ve experienced pretty interesting situations with this kid, a few of which I’ve blogged about. Like the bathroom cupboard experience, or his refusal to potty train, and most recently his completely unbelievable act of placing a self-removed poopy diaper outside his bedroom door with the expectation that I would dispose of it properly.
And although I am more often than not momentarily shocked by his actions I jump right back into “Mom mode” and do what I gots to do.
But, he’s really stumped me now. Jack has this amazing ability for throwing cogs into our machine of peaceful living. He asks questions for which I have no answers. He finds problems for which I have no solutions. But this new one? I’m thrown.
Jack refuses to acknowledge that Halloween is over. Absolutely refuses. It’s as if he believes that Halloween is an everlasting holiday, one that began approximately one month ago but now has no ending in sight. It will coexist with other holidays, for sure, because why would one voluntarily give up the opportunities at receiving gifts and candy, but Halloween is here to stay.
So, why is this a problem you might ask? Why not just indulge the sweet little fantasies of an innocent little toddler? Well, I’ll tell you. Because Jack gets livid if you try to take Halloween decorations down. He keeps stealing out to the garage and bringing back in pumpkins and witches and ghosts which have been put away. On any given day, I will find Halloween paraphenalia scattered halphazardly around the house.
He won’t let me get rid of this decor catalog. He peruses through it on almost a daily basis.
He’s angry that there are no Halloween television shows on anymore. He continually asks me to watch a “Hoween” one. I say, “Jack, Halloween’s over. There are no shows.”
He always answers, “Nope. No. Hoween’s not ov-ah. Not yet. Can you get me a show? Wif pumpkins.” And we go round and round.
Forget about shopping. He spends the entire trip asking me, “Where’s all da stuff? ”
“What stuff, Jack?” As if I didn’t know.
“All da How-een stuffs. Where dey put it?” He looks around the store, seemingly appalled at the placement of twinkle lights where there used to be skeleton heads.
“Halloween is over, Jack.” Round and round.
So, in keeping with the whole “Harvest” theme we’ve been able to meld Halloween in with Thanksgiving. It’ s working out. So far. But, what about Christmas? How am I going to pull off setting out the scary pumpkins with my Nativity scene? How about the spooky ghosts? Can they hang with the Nutcrackers?
One thing is for certain. Holidays are definitely going to be interesting in this suburban household. Jack will make sure of that.
Love to all, Mindy
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Brandy
Hey, we have The Nightmare Before Christmas! That should get you to December.
You might be on to something there…
Mindy
Jack is my kind of people. Halloween is always been my favorite holiday and as I kid I hated to see it pass. You could let him decorate his room only with Halloween. I think Christmas will probably distract him but who knows……This is too cute for words. (well for me, maybe not so cute for mom)
Yes, I’m banking on him falling in love with Christmas. Of course, then, he’ll probably wake up every morning after and expect to find presents by the fireplace. =)
Mindy
Um. I’m totally with Jack there Mindy. I love me some halloween decorations year round. Bring on the spooky. And scary ghosts? They love jaunty little santa hats. Seriously. Perhaps Jack is a future horror fiction writer? Or director? Maybe you’re raising the future Stephen King?!
You can rent and/or buy those goosebumps movies. My kids loved those from an early age. Plus I DVR a buttload of stuff in October so I can get my spooky on all year. Lol. I have a bumper sticker my sis bought me that says “It’s Halloween at my House Everyday”. I totally get Jack. Lol!
♥Spot
It does NOT surprise me that you have a bumper sticker like that! I guess Jack is in good company then with his obsession with all things Halloween. =) I didn’t realize that scary ghosts actually LIKE Santa hats, good to know. =)
Mindy
I say go with the Nightmare Before Christmas thing. And let him decorate his own room with the understanding that the rest of the house is off limits. I’ve been there and done that. My 5 year old never wants to take down decorations – from any holiday.
You know, I thought about just transferring the Halloween stuff from the garage to his bedroom. At least the giant pumpkins which keep finding their way back into my living room. I could also keep the window clings on his window until they fall off. Good idea! =)
Mindy
How cute!
I don’t suppose you could bribe him? Like Santa is scared of Halloween, he won’t come unless we take it all down and decorate for Christmas?
Surely, he loves Santa! If not, I agree slowly transition him with The Nightmare before Christmas.
Well, we’ll be dragging out the Christmas decorations before long so we’ll see how he reacts. He’ll probably want to know where the red and green witches or tinsel-coated ghosts are. =)
Mindy
There is also “Scrooge” that has ghosts in it. Even the kiddy versions.
Hey, if it’s Halloween, it’ll make him happy. =)
Mindy
You poor thing, I feel for ya! When my Son was that young, I made it a point to explain things to him BEFOREhand what was going to happen. I would mark on the calendar what days were for what activity (pictures if needed), and when those days passed, it was done. I succeeded in accomplishing a few things at once:
a) he now has clear expectations about the logical timeframe for things
b) he learned how to read a calendar, even before he could read
c) I stifled the whining before it started
d) Sanity. Mine. ;-D
Hmmm…pre-planning so these disasters don’t occur. Interesting concept. Should think about doing things like that. =)
Mindy
Santa will distract him. Maybe Jack needs a Santa costume! Or an elf. He would be a really cute elf.
Yes! An elf costume so he’ll get Batman off the brain. Great idea, Mindee! Hmmm…now how to go about fashioning one of those. They sell dog costumes. He’s about the size of a miniature schnauzer. I’ll have to check PetSmart. =)
Mindy