Halloween Education

Christian and I have constantly been learning these past 7+ months what it truly means to be parents. We are by no means experts and we acknowledge that we still have a lot to learn. And, furthermore, I know that Benjamin (and any future Stricklands) are not done teaching us lessons.

But, this being Benjamin's first Halloween, Christian and I wanted him to have the same childhood fun we remember enjoying while trick-or-treating. So, we got him a costume and took him to congregation members' homes for his first trick-or-treating experience.

Of course, Benjamin will be older the next time Halloween rolls around, but here are a few tidbits of what we learned from this year's experience. The "What To-Do's" and "What NOT To-Dos" of Halloween Trick-or-Treating, if you will. Do not wait until the night before to shop for your child's Halloween costume (If you do decide to wait, do not be surprised if the only choices left for a 12-month old costume is between dressing up as a pumpkin or a fairy. That is, unless you're willing to drive to multiple stores to find more costume options). Do have a backup plan in case your first idea does not pan out. Do not expect a 7-month old to be happy about being dressed up in a costume during the evening hours. Do expect varying degrees of fussiness and crabbiness to accompany your trick-or-treating experience. Do not expect to get a lot of candy when you have to spend the majority of the evening driving on country roads to get to people's houses. Do expect your 7-month old to put up a fight every time he is being put into his car seat. Do not wait until 1 hour before bedtime to start trick-or-treating. Do stick to your bedtime routine and get to bed ON TIME (or you might regret it the next day). Do not expect your child's trick-or-treating experience(s) to be the same as yours. Do have fun with your child/children and continue to see all the wonderful and numerous blessings/gifts God continues to bestow on us, His children.

Those are just a few examples of what we should remember to do or to not do next Halloween. Hopefully, Christian and I will "learn from our lessons of history" (as Mr. Mac at LHSN would say) when Halloween rolls around again next year.

Finally, please enjoy the following pictures of Benjamin in his Halloween outfits (the skeleton shirt is from Grandma and Grandpa King - Thanks!).