HALLOWEEN 2011 EVENING

Dear Weeb,

You weren't feeling too badly this evening so we went over to Grandma and Grandpa's to get some photos of the pumpkins we'd carved on the weekend. We told you that you could answer the door to trick or treaters for a while and go to a few houses if you were still feeling okay.

We made it out for a bit. It was cold, and you wore yourself out with excitement and we came back home with your fever back over 101. Poor girl. You had a bit of fun, anyways.

Here are the pumpkins that Daddy carved.

Here is the pumpkin you and your Grade 7 Buddy carved at school, last Friday.

Answering the door to trick or treaters.

Princess Peach, all dressed up (you looked like a pretty, pink Hulk!) and posing.

That bright light behind you is the moon.

Back at Grandma and Grandpa's when it was clear your fever had gone up again

and it was time to head home.

Happy Halloween, Weeb. I wish you had been feeling better, but you said you had a good time, even if it was a bit short.

HALLOWEEN 2011 DAYTIME

Dear Weeb,

You developed a rotten fever yesterday morning and it's been sticking around. This morning it's been getting better and you're still not quite yourself, but we kept you home from school.

Since you were feeling not too bad, we dressed you up in the indoor costume we'd bought for you, and you and I walked to the school so you could hand out the Halloween pencils we'd bought for your classmates. Your teacher (who I really like) said she didn't mind the interruption and your friends were pretty happy to see you. Many of them said they felt bad for you that you weren't feeling well on Halloween.

As long as the fever stays where it is (low with Advil or Tylenol), then we are going to pop over to Grandma and Grandpa's later. Depending on how you feel, we might answer the door to trick or treaters or maybe we'll go down the street. We'll see. It's VERY windy and cold out there today! But you were so upset about maybe missing Halloween that I'm quite happy that, so far, I think we can pull off going out for an hour or so.

You carved this pumpkin with your Grade 7 'Big Buddy' at school on Friday.

We got a Barbie Sorceress costume to wear at school. You only got to wear it there for a few minutes, but you were still pretty happy to wear it. You won't take it off. I told you that you could wear it to Grandma and Grandpa's house. If we go out, you can change into your outdoor costume (one you can put a coat under!).

This face... You asked me so nicely to go to Grandma and Grandpa's for a little while tonight and how can I say no? I can't. Not to this face! Happy Hauntings!

THE WIZARD OF OZ AND WEEB

We're watching the Wizard of Oz. We've watched bits of it before, but not the whole thing. You're on the fence about the whole thing, so far.

Weeb: "Is this going to be in color?"

Daddy: "Eventually, when she gets to Oz."

Dorothy sings Somewhere Over the Rainbow.

Mummy: "Is she singing about going to a nicer place?"

Weeb: "Yes, probably somewhere where there is color."

HALLOWEEN IN STEVESTON 2011

Dear Weeb,

We went Trick or Treating in Steveston with your cousin J, Aunty M and Aunty C today. It was a sunny, warm day, a perfect day to join several hundred other kids a walk around for a couple of hours collecting candy that I won't let you eat (because of your nut allergy). But it's collecting that's all the fun, right?

You were thrilled that at least four people knew that you were dressed as Princess Peach, from the Mario games. We actually bumped into one other little girl dressed in the same costume who was equally delighted that someone finally recognized her costume. You cousin J dressed as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz again this year. She seems to have the same shoe obsession as your Aunty M. Who can blame her? Sparkly red shoes are awesome!

Below, after Trick or Treating, we went back to Grandma and Grandpa's house and played some games and did some Halloween crafts while Daddy carved pumpkins. Aunty M helped clean the pumpkin guts out of a couple, which was much appreciated. We had a LOT of pumpkins!

You and Cousin J were playing a game of Pumpkin Toss with these little pumpkin decorations (which are basically colored plastic bags stuffed with shredded paper). You were both trying to get them into a basket until suddenly the game erupted into a game of throwing pumpkins at Grandma while she threw them back at you. I'm not sure who started it, and I can truthfully say I haven't heard so much giggling in a long time!

It's always fun at Grandma and Grandpa's house! And I'm really glad you had a good day because you're going to wake up tomorrow with a rotten fever that keeps climbing all day (I am not as much psychic as I am just typing this post Sunday night and dating it as Saturday). I hope you get to go out Trick or Treating on Halloween night, but if not, we sure had fun today!

SCOOTERING TO SCHOOL

Dear Weeb,

I've been walking you to school this week while Daddy is on a course, downtown. You've convinced me, most days, that you should be able to ride your scooter to school because you've eaten breakfast without my threatening to turn off the TV (I'm mother of the year, you see).

It was so nice this morning. Autumn has definitely arrived. You looked so cute and were so pleased to be riding your scooter. It's been a pretty nice week.

SLEEPWEEBING

Dear Weeb,

I woke up around 1AM to find that you had snuck into Daddy's bed. You were obviously very good at the sneak because he clearly hadn't noticed.

You didn't bring your pillow or Captain Huggy Face, which I found odd. So I got them and brought them to you, and lifted your little head onto the pillow. I am pretty sure you smiled at me, though I have no doubt you were sound asleep.

This morning when I woke you up, Daddy was surprised you were there. What was funny was that YOU were surprised you were there. You told us you didn't remember having a bad dream or waking up and you thought we were tricking you and one of us had moved you from your bedroom.

Does this count as sleep walking? I'm not sure. Gave me a giggle though. And then I was glad that we still have the baby gate up at the top of the stairs.

PS: For future reference, your Daddy and I love each other very much, but his snoring and bed sheet tossing don't allow for the restful sleep your overly delicate light sleeper of a mother requires. Plus he hates my fan being on all year. If we tried to sleep in the same bed, I would turn into a psychotic harpie.

HEARING TESTS

Dear Weeb,

Last year, just after you started Kindergarten, we had your hearing tested on the advise of your teacher.

Your hearing is perfect. Apparently it is BETTER than perfect.

I find it amusing that now, when I get mad at you for not listening, you 'innocently' suggest that it must be time to get your hearing tested again.

Your hearing is fine, kid. You are just rather selective, it seems, in what you choose to hear.

COUNTING DINOSAURS

Dear Weeb,

A couple of years ago, I bought you this set of little plastic dinosaurs meant for teaching counting and patterns. There were red ones, green ones, blue ones and yellow ones. They aren't exactly accurate examples of dinosaurs. For example, the triceratops only has two horns.

We brought them to Grandma and Grandpa's so you and your cousin J could practice some math over the summer.

We went over there for a party and this is what I found on the toy shelves.

Your Grandma is funny.

BEDTIME WORRIES

Dear Weeb,

I do not have all the answers to things in life, but it is my job to keep you safe.

At bedtime, trust me, me and Daddy have covered as much as we can to keep you safe and sound through the night. The doors are locked. The alarm is on. The smoke detectors work. The carbon monoxide detector works. We have an earthquake kit. We are as safe as we can be. You worrying is not going to make us any safer and frankly, it's not your job. It's my job.

Now, I am well aware, though you are a worrier like me, what you are doing at bedtime, by expressing your many worries, is called STALLING.

There are, I can assure you, NO secret agents in the house. Whatever you think you heard, it was NOT a secret agent. No more Phineas and Ferb before bedtime for you.

Secret Agent 'Little Weeb' types a secret message

to headquarters after everyone has gone to bed.

There are NO snakes in the house. I've lived in this city for over 30 years and have NEVER seen a snake in the outdoors, much less sneaking around in somebody's house at bedtime.

There are NO vampires lurking around the upstairs. There are NO vampires. Period. Thanks to Grandma for that one. Next time you review what words start with the letter V, please ignore her terrifying vampire laugh that convinces you that she MUST be a vampire because Grandma would NEVER laugh like THAT! She did it to us when we were kids too and it was just as freaky. But she's just fooling. She's tricky, your Grandma.

Your toys are NOT staring at you. Every kid thinks this at one time or another, but trust me, they're NOT staring at you. Neither are they whispering to each other.

You do NOT have to be afraid of the little blinking light on the smoke detector. All that does is tell us the batteries are working. Things that blink are not necessarily going to lead to a scary noise.

You do NOT have to be afraid of every noise. We live in a noisy complex, you're going to hear a lot of noises. Noises can be warnings (like the smoke detector or the house alarm), but it is OUR job to take care of you if something is happening. But those kinds of things almost NEVER happen.

You do NOT have to be afraid of the toilet overflowing. I used to be afraid of the same thing when I was little. But even if it did happen, the house would not flood. If it did happen, we'd turn off the water or something; but the point is we'd take care of it. It's not that big a deal. Things happen and you deal with them. No big whoop. This is not school, we do not have a bunch of dumb kids trying to flush unflushable things, so it's unlikely our toilet will overflow.

Your bedtime worries remind me of what I was afraid of when I was a kid, and except for the secret agents, it was mostly the same kind of stuff. They remind me of what a vivid imagination you have. They remind me of how scary the unknown and the dark can be.

Now I will say to you what my father used to say to me when I admitted my silly fears to him at bedtime, "Stop being ridiculous and go to bed." I'm paraphrasing. When you're older, I'll tell you what he really said. Regardless, it always made me feel better, because if HE wasn't worried, why should I be worried?

Years later I learned that half the time that would just set off HIS bedtime worrying, but he had to act tough because he was a parent and convincing kids that there is no boogeyman is what we do.

I look forward to chuckling at your next batch of bedtime fears/excuses, even if half of them keep me up, worrying, just as I had done to my dad. Until then, it's my job to take care of the scary stuff, it's your job to brush your teeth, go to the toilet and just go to bed. I love you. Goodnight.

HOLES IN THE KNEES OF YOUR PANTS

Dear Weeb,

Though I appreciate that you did not get this hole by crawling around playing 'kitty', which is how you managed to get holes in most of your pants over the past two years, the two hour conversation that resulted in you admitting that you MIGHT have been using scissors at school and they MIGHT have slipped to the knee of your leggings makes me want to scream.

I have informed you that if scissors MIGHT be involved in future naked knee displays, YOU will be paying for the replacement pants / leggings.

"That's okay," you say to me, cheerily. "How much do they cost?"

I don't know! I don't think you're appreciating how angry I am at this, and your nonchalance is not helping (mostly because I'm trying not to laugh). 14 bucks, I say.

"That's okay," you inform me, again. "I have lots of money in my piggy bank."

Later, when your father got home, he was talking to you about the scissors. You told him you were cutting out a running shoe shape for the Terry Fox run and the scissors MIGHT have slipped.

As the conversation continued, we learned that you were cutting, on the table, you were sitting in your chair nicely (first time for everything) and the scissors just jumped out of your hand and cut a hole in the knee of your pants on the way down.

So we're not quite certain if this was an accident, an experiment or you just snagged it while you were playing on the playground.

I hope you remember this moment, this hole. I hope it was one of those moments of discovery for you. It's certainly reminded me that I need to let you have the freedom to go out and live life and find who you are and what your place is. More than anything, it helped me step back and remember that kids get and put holes in their clothes.