Today after school, Grandma Tina came over and we made jack-o-lanterns before going trick-or-treating. We had four pumpkins that Aidan has been asking to carve for about 4 weeks now. I kept telling him that we have to wait until closer to Halloween. It dawned on me today that we can't get much closer to Halloween, so we'd better get cracking on the pumpkins. Aidan's favorite part was designing the faces while Gabrielle seemed to prefer smooshing her hands into the slimy guts in the bowl after we'd cleaned the pumpkins.
At 6 p.m., we began entertaining pint-sized goblins, fairies, lions, and action heroes. I am pleased to report that I did not see any costumes like the highly sexualized ones we've been discussing in my Gender Studies classes. Aidan truly loved answering the door like the perfect little host. He'd distribute candy and pay compliments about costumes like a mature adult. At 7 p.m., we headed out to do our own trick-or-treating. Gabrielle, who is now approximately 26 lbs, insisted on me carrying her because "she saw Ween!" and was scared of a couple of the ghost/goblin costumes. And at first, she didn't really get the concept of getting a treat for ringing someone's doorbell. A few times, she actually gave candy to the people who answered instead of vice versa.

