BOO! Did I scare ya?
Poor kid...Little C wanted to do her first "big kid trick-or-treat" outing, so I had bought her a Renaissance costume that she picked out, and arranged to leave work about 20 minutes early so I coulfd make the commute in time to pick her up, get her dressed, meet the friends, and have time to do the door to door, still get her back to change and to Spam's before 8:30 and the inevitable fit that would follow if I was a single minute late...
It has been bone numbingly cold here lately, and of course, Little C's costume required some modifications (like dark pants and turtleneck underneath)...
Ran to store to get last minute prep stuff, picked her up, and immediately ran into a wall of cars. I flipped an illegal u-turn to take another route, and got pulled over..couldn't find my wallet that had fallen on the floor since my interior truck light didn't work. Didn't have Little C in a booster since daycare had confirmed she was tall and heavy enough, but also couldn't tell the cop her current weight (it has been a while), had him talking in one ear and Little C in the other...fortunately he took pity on me and let me go without my even producing my license...which is currently expired since I haven't had time to fix it during the weekdays...so I was lucky...
...went through the whirlwind of dressing C, fighting with her shoe knots, trying to find the warmest clothes, raced over to Nikki's (a battle worn mom who doesn't flinch anymore in the face of chaos cause she has been there/done that)..we were supposed to go to Vandals town for the mall experience, but by the time we went through the whining kids, hair spraying the last details into place, losing props (hats and tails), Nikki simulataneously on the cell phone, smoking a cigarette, fixing her hair, drinking her beverage, and talking to her crying daughter (AT THE SAME TIME) made me tired before we even left...
By the time we hit the neighborhood C was already tired. The kids were testy (but cute in costume), and fluctuated between excited and devastated by the careless slights bestowed upon each other in the course of candy hunting ("she ran ahead of me and didn't stop when I asked", "she is sitting in my spot", "they got more candy than me", "I lost my hat", "I'm cold", "I lost YOUR gloves", "my bag ripped", "I lost my tail"...)...home in tears we went...
Little C was falling over sleepy sideways in the truck, and I didn't have time to get her home to change her back into her clothes...47 lbs of candy still sits in my cupboard...and a check of my phone the next morning revealed that Spam did indeed call at EXACTLY 8:30pm. My oh my. I had her home probably while she was still on the phone waiting to complain...although I guess Bible study until 9:30 at Kingdom Hall is okay, since that is HER thing...
ok, ok...I digress...
and somehow, despite all of that trauma, I KNOW Little C will want to go again next year...
I will come back to this and post a pic as soon as I download them...
Public Transportation and Global Citizenship
1 year ago
Oh BROTHER! Been there...done that....with a little J named Joanna when she LOVED to go trick-or-treating, but ALWAYS lost her gloves or tail. :o) I was shaking with anxiety myself after reading that account! You know, I hope, that once your license expires, you have to take a driving test again to renew, and I think there's a penalty too. Bad girl!!!!!!!!!! Momgator
ReplyDeleteWow! You are a good bat-herder. What a spooky-Halloween you had (well, the cop and Spam part had the potential anyhow ~ and children in throngs have always freaked me out a bit).
ReplyDeleteGood survival skills-- and thank goodness Halloween is a once-a-year-ordeal.
Now go get your new license so I won't be worried about the rookie-freak-stickler you might get stuck with the next time you are going 3 miles over the speed limit.
shelf out.
My license was expired once many years ago (and on a side note, I was pulled over twice in Oregon and neither cop noticed or said anything and they let me go...) and I only realized it was expired about 5 months after the fact when a checkout lady at Dissmore's said, 'hey your license is expired' to my shock/dismay. Well, not so much really mainly because I was buying alcohol (hince the license check).
ReplyDeleteANYHOW the point of all this is, I went to the DOL in Pullman and I didn't have to take any test, just a fee and they renewed it. :) AND of course the occassional jab from the licensing lady for my stupidity, lack of responsibility, on and on...
I wish my license would expire. I keep moving every year and collecting new ones in different states...
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