Halloween Post Mortem

typeset · November 2014

How'd your kiddo(s) fare?

We had an anxiety spike around dinner time. He refused to eat. Complete screaming, crying breakdown (which woke the baby) over the costume he'd already worn and was enamored with for weeks. We stuffed him in, made him wear the gloves, compromised on the helmet, and carried him screaming out the door. My husband calmed him down with a couple of music videos in the driveway until the first trick-or-treater showed up. He was then okay to try one house. Ended up staying out for ninety minutes.

funchicken · November 2014

This was our third Halloween in this neighborhood, so DD has gotten pretty comfortable with it. It's also our third Halloween since her peanut allergy diagnosis, and she's more comfortable with that, too.

She was dressed as Dorothy, and she LOVED her costume. I sprayed an old pair of her Mary janes with glue and dipped them in glitter to make the ruby slippers, and she just thought they were awesome. It also eliminated her shoe anxiety because it was a pair that she was already comfortable in.

I'm pretty happy that I don't have to worry about it again for another 365 days, though

hopecounts · November 2014

DD did great it was windy and cold so we did 2 streets and called it good, she would've been happy doing more but we were cold. She said T or T and Thank You, had some troubke with eye contact/looking at the person largely from being to into the candy. Was pretty social at our friends house but it was mostly adults so not terribly surprising.

All in all a good night.

kcisthebombdotcom · November 2014

Amazing. I was expecting the worst because she didn't nap and she was crabby right before we left but she made it 2.5 hours. We did a social story we found on the Internet about ToT and it helped immensely. Lots of ToT and thank yous. We had a few awkward moments like when she tried to walk in the house that had huge candy bars of her fav candy and trying to steal candy out of another kids pail but we told her once that wasn't ok and she obeyed.

Junebug060609 · November 2014

He actually did really well

Costume, including the hat, stayed on the whole time. We made it to like 6 houses before he was acting spacey (it was near the start of his bedtime routine...Mr Napditcher goes early). No words, some flapping and a shit-ton of humming... but he did everything else perfectly. Went up to doors with me, picked candy out when instructed, put it in his bucket when told to. His baby sister on the other hand...she lost her shiz at the first house and I had to wear her for the rest.

He even dug into the candy bowl I accidentally left in reach and brought me a handful of candy bars. Needless to say he got just one, but it was cute.

On a side note: We met a boy, maybe 11yo or so, who I'm pretty sure was on the spectrum. It was all at once encouraging (he was very verbal, something we're still working on) and overwhelming (Did I mention he was very verbal...and knowledgeable about Power Rangers?). It was also strange to see him and realize that ten years from now we could be similar to them. I kinda wish I'd been able to chat with the mom more, would be nice to have a mom friend IRL that 'gets' things.

bumpuser511563 · November 2014

DS talked about his costume and was excited to wear his costume since mid-September. It was a win because he hates hats and managed to wear the plastic hat with the fireman's coat.

We went out of town for Halloween and DS wore his fireman costume in the morning for breakfast at the hotel and to a few stores with my parents. It was a pretty warm Halloween, so it was too hot to wear the costume. My mom bought him a Halloween shirt.

We traveled 3 hours home and got home just in time for the Trunk or Treat. DH and I were going to take him despite us being tired from the trip. DS was mad because all he wanted to do was play with his cars and road printed carpet. DS even told me he did not want any candy!

I cried in the kitchen because I wanted DS to have a fun Halloween and to get some candy.

We did not go and ordered a pizza instead.

greyt00 · November 2014

My whole family got strep throat this week. October ALWAYS sucks for some reason. I will be scared for next year. We managed to reach the non-contagious period just in time to salvage Halloween night. DS2 did great. It was his first time to walk around, which is why I was so upset at first when I thought Halloween was completely ruined. DS2 went out with us last year but at 14 months was simply carried the whole way. DS1 was happy about the idea of going trick-or-treating, but we had to wheel him in around in his stroller. Since he can't take oral meds, he got a shot for his strep throat. His leg STILL hurts so much that he is limping. He participated but between the leg and recovery otherwise, he wasn't that into it. DS1 has been a beast today, keeps saying he wants to eat but won't tell us what, and just driving me crazy. This eating regression has been bad. I hope it is OVER SOON. If he ever needs an antibiotic shot again, which is very likely, I'm going to lose my mind.

I let DS2 eat a whole fun-size bag of M&Ms all by himself when we got him and took pictures and video of it. DS1 won't eat candy.

hopanka · November 2014

We had a lot of fun. Traditionally, we start off at our friends' house with a Halloween dinner (three families, 6 kids total) and then drive to our other friends' neighborhood that is all tricked out Hollywood-style. There are a lot of people in the streets (traffic gets diverted from that neighborhood).

DS has really come so far, if I really think about it. It's madness, crowds, haunted houses, crazy costumes. But, he acts like any other kid. He walks around with his buddies, TOTs, says thank you, he even took turns handing out candy at our friends' house while taking a break from TOT (minus a little bickering with his friends about who was going to hold the bowl of candy) and really enjoyed it. Finished off with pizza and a movie with friends. Great night!

When I think of how he got overwhelmed in crowds due to sensory overload as a 2-4 year old, we are truly in a much better place, able to enjoy life again.

funchicken · November 2014

@hopanka‌ ...I know what you mean. I don't think DD wore a real costume until she was 3.5, and it wasn't until she was 5.5 that she could tolerate the crinkly, scratchy fabrics for more than about 45 minutes worth of ToTing (she's 6.5 now). This year was by far the best with the least amount of anxiety.

bkeane619 · November 2014

DS had a great time. He had a rough am at school, not surprising for his second day being a halloween party. She said he was a whirlwind.
The afternoon trick or treating he did awesome. Was sooo polite. He had a blast. I did have to keep him from trying to go inside just about every house though.

abigail912 · November 2014

I was really cold and windy here (even snowed a bit) so we just visited a couple of family members houses and then went to an indoor event but the kids had fun. DS's ABA group had a practice day for ToT. He was an little overwhelmed at the indoor event so DH carried him most the time but he did sign candy and said his version of thanks so I said it was a success!

MirandaHobbes · November 2014

@fredalina - Our school doesn't do Halloween either, and they do Valentines! Weird!

DS was too keyed up for Halloween this year. I was too. There was no school so I had to take him to work with me, which typically is no big deal but Friday I actually had to accomplish work. So he watched a couple movies and played on the Ipad all day. Everyone in my office kept coming in and giving him candy despite me trying to intervene. We got home and I had to prepare dinner for friends who were coming over after trick or treating. This was not well planned on my part. Then at 5:00 I realized we hadn't even carved our three pumpkins so I delegated that to DH, who hates doing things like that. Of course I couldn't leave well enough alone when I saw his sad-a$$ed pumpkins so I took over that too while my bisque burned on the stove. DS was anxious to get going and I was too, just to get it over with and get him to bed so I could have a moment's peace. I usually take him out at 6 pm but this year I think everyone waited until later since it wasn't a school night. Finally at 6:15 the toddlers from the block started coming around so I thought what the hell, here we go. So we joined the toddlers for the duration. Fortunately we only had to do two blocks- I think the older kids were out for a couple hours.

The rest of the weekend was just gluttony. DS went to a sleepover where I think he slept for all of 5 hours. Sunday he was a mess and had a playdate which I think/hope went alright. We purposefully didn't change our clocks in the house to trick him into going to sleep an hour early. He was out in a second and seemed okay for school today.

I'm glad Halloween is over! We've had events going on for the past two weeks.

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