Tonight, we got to join my friend and her husband and two little girls to go trick-or-treating. It was the first time for real for the three-year-old.
When we pulled up, they were all out front, and another friend of my friend was with them. As we set out, we realized that we were three different families present for the two children of only one of those families. It cracked us up, at least. The one family was dressed to theme together as characters from the movie “Encanto”. The mom was Luisa and the baby was a donkey, dad was Bruno, and the three-year-old, of course, was Mirabel. And yes, she wore the glasses. We actually had to stop at one point, because her glasses were falling down, and she had to fix them. (Of course, my man actually fixed them for her, because they’d popped out of socket on one side, but she was the one who was adamant that they had to be fixed before we could continue walking.)
Nonetheless, she would hold one of our hands while we walked, then would climb onto the front walkway of a house, run up to the door or table with her (meaning our) pumpkin, usually say, and adorably, “Trick or treat!”, receive or grab candy, often say even more adorably, “Thank you!”, run back down to us waiting adults (with the baby), grab ahold of a hand again, and then jump off the curb. For the first several times, she also then would add, “I got candy! I got candy!” Then, as we continued onward, she would declare, “I wanna go to Mimi and Pawpaw’s house! I wanna go to Mimi and Pawpaw’s house!” (Keep in mind, she is excited and adorable, not whiney and annoying. Just to be clear here, because that matters.)
Once we finally got to Mimi and Pawpaw’s house, they came along with us for a bit before going back home. At that point, the declaration from the street, after getting candy, had become, “I wanna do another one… I wanna go to someBODY’s house! I wanna go to someBODY’s house!” Why was she emphasizing the “body” part of the word? I genuinely have no idea. But it was stupidly cute, and she was just so excited to be trick-or-treating, which she also occasionally declared that she was doing, none of us minded about correcting her emphasis.
When we got back to the house, she immediately took off her shoes and then told us she wanted to eat a piece of chocolate. So, I had her pick one, and then I opened it for her. When she was ready for another piece, I showed her how to bring the bucket to the floor, and to sit down and dump it out with us, making that glorious candy waterfall and then pile. She clearly enjoyed both the dumping and the shoving her hands through it all to see what all was there. Right move!
And she actually had a surprising spread. I made her parents both feel how heavy her bucket was before we dumped it out, because no one understood how strong this kid had been. She was adamant about carrying it herself the whole time. But that thing was genuinely heavy, and she’s only three years old. Her commitment and success were impressive, to be sure. We were all both surprised and proud of her.
And we were proud of her for all of it, really. She had gone up to most houses all on her own. She’d remembered her lines almost every time. When she forgot the “Trick or treat” part, and my man asked her, “What do you say?”, she quickly then said to the ladies, “Thank you!” Not the direction he was aiming, but also not a bad line to pick(!). She did a really good job and clearly had a blast, and we were proud of her.
And we had a good time, too. It was fun being all together just hanging out, while also providing for this both adorable for us and fun for her time for the three-year-old. It was great.
Oh, and she also occasionally would declare, “I’m Mirabeeel!” Everyone enjoyed that one, too.
It was just a lovely night, and I am grateful for it. I’m sorry my man and I both felt kind of unwell afterward, and that we didn’t hand out any of the candy we’d purchased specifically to hand out this year, but I think we both are glad we went with my friend and them all, nonetheless. It was a surprisingly lovely time.
Thank you, God, for these friends, big and small. Thank you for tonight. Please, help us to sleep well tonight and to pursue and fulfill your will in all we do. Help my friend A-J to experience the love we have for her and the gratitude so many have toward her. Help her to feel your love and the love and gratitude she so well creates and inspires. In your name, I pray. Amen.
Post-a-day 2023
hannah ananas 