Candy Corn Confession

Halloween is OVER! Wahoo! I suppose I could write out a lengthy embellished account of the costumes, the sugar, and the other gaudy minutiae of this exhausting festivity, but I’m too happy that it’s over to want to relive it now. A few wimpy journal clips will have to do.

Before I head to the grumpy journal, I will concede to offer a positive Halloween encounter. My favorite part of Halloween this year happened in the WinCo bulk candy section. While we were grocery shopping on Monday, Amber and I decided to get some gummy eyeballs. The gummy eyeballs were white with red veins running through it to a blue center. In order to put the gummy eyeballs from the bulk barrel into a plastic bag, WinCo thoughtfully provided plastic tongs. The gummy eyeballs were all kind of stuck together in the bin, so I had to gouge at the eyeballs with the tongs. The red veins in the gummies kind of stretched and grew as I gouged and grabbed eyeballs. It was almost too gross to continue, but I persevered and was very satisfied with my Halloweeny experience in the grocery store. The eyeball gummies were awesomely gruesome and went well with the green witch finger cookies we make every year.

The other candy we chose in the WinCo bulk section was candy corn. Humans seem to be divided into two camps: Camp Candy Corn is Heavenly vs. Camp Candy Corn is the Devil’s Earwax. I have always resided firmly in Camp Candy Corn is Heavenly. When Amber and I brought home our bag of candy corns, we both snacked one down. Confession: I did not like it! I have moved from Camp Candy Corn is Heavenly all the way over to Camp Candy Corn is the Devil’s Earwax! The candy corns were so sugary they practically burned my tongue, and I found zero enjoyment in eating them. I have been trying to eat less sugar in general (nothing too extreme–Jeff and I still eat ice cream more than every other night). Mostly what I do is try to reduce or replace sugar, especially in dinner and snack recipes, so my only real sugar intake is my nightly treat (usually ice cream). I guess my sugar-editing has changed my tastebuds. Adios, candy corns! I threw them all in the trash.

Ok, now that I have mentioned one positive Halloweeny thing and confessed a serious change in candy preferences, I will move onto the bare bones journal entries about Halloween activities. I did add to them here and there so they make sense. I thought this would be a short boring post, but who am I kidding? There’s no escaping a Shaina-blog-post without at least 1200 words! Muahahaha…

Friday, October 26th: We watched Hocus Pocus for family movie night tonight. I don’t remember when I first saw that movie, but every time I’ve watched it since becoming a parent, I have been surprised at how slyly crude it is! It set my teeth on edge. Sigh, Halloween. The GOOD Halloweeny movies that we always watch are still to come: “Wallace and Gromit and the Curse of the WereRabbit” and “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.”

Saturday, October 27th: This evening we all got our Halloween costumes on for the first time and went to our friends’ Halloween party. Jeff and I ended up dressing up as Fred and Daphne from Scooby Doo. I had to dash to Walmart at 5pm on Saturday (eek!) to find a plain white t-shirt for Jeff and pink tights for myself. I found Jeff’s shirt just fine, (although the smallest size available was large–the biggest size was 4XL–oh Walmart), but three laps around the store yielded zero luck for me. Half-heartedly, I turned to the girls’ section. Miraculously, I found a girls’ size 12-14 pink tights that reached my low hips when stretched to the max. I endured/waddled through the nerve-wrackingly low-riding waist and deep crotch sag of the 6-inches too short inseam for 90 minutes of costume time. Breezy! Thankfully we were able to cobble together the rest of our costume pieces from our wardrobes at home.

Jay dressed up as a ninja, Rose was a flying unicorn, and Amber was Wonder Woman (a Goodwill FIND) since her unicorn horn hasn’t come in the mail yet. We arrived just after 6pm at the party, survived an hour of small talk, and then came home just after 7pm. Living large! I’m in a social coma. I like my friends a lot, but the wander-and-talk party atmosphere sends me into immediate social tailspin, regardless of who’s present.

Monday, October 29th: We carved pumpkins together as a family this afternoon. Our garden produced 6 big pumpkins and 1 small one, but when we went to harvest them today, we discovered that all but 2 of them were moldy! We salvaged the least spongy of the pumpkins and managed to carve five–one each. Jeff cut the moldy section completely out of his pumpkin and made it into a low mouth. I left the mold on the back of my pumpkin and carved the opposite side. Jay and Rose claimed the two non-moldy pumpkins, which was funny because the non-moldies were much firmer, thicker, and harder to carve. Amber’s pumpkin was shriveled on the bottom, so it looked like a blob. Somehow I ended up carving both Amber’s pumpkin and mine. She wanted a kitty pumpkin. Whiskers are hard! We sprayed each carved pumpkin with bleach bathroom cleaner in hopes of delaying the decomposition. Another activity checked off our Halloween traditions-to-do list! I hope our moldy pumpkins don’t completely disintegrate before Wednesday!

Tuesday, October 30th: We made our traditional witch finger cookies this afternoon.

Wednesday, October 31st: Last night I did not sleep well, and it was a struggle to do the Halloween thing today. I’m afraid I was a tad grumpy at times (lots of times) this afternoon and evening. I took a preemptive dose of ibuprofen to head off the inevitable Halloween headache, and it was the smartest thing I did all day, apart from my attempt at a 40 minute power nap. The kids dressed up and had fun visiting the grandparents and cousins in Grandview. Amber’s unicorn headband came in the mail, so she dressed up as Wonder Woman Unicorn. We called her the WonderCorn. After half an hour in Grandview, we went straight to our ward chili dinner and trunk-or-treat, where Amber handed out candy by the handful. We ran out of candy very quickly, and Amber ate way too much of it. The evening was loud, crowded, and chaotic, but we socialized, survived, and got home by 7:15pm. Sugar is horrible. Kids in costumes are cute. I am so glad Halloween is OVER for another year!

Do I detect a glint of desperation in the adults’ eyes?

Thursday, November 1st: Today I woke up feeling socially drained. Rose and Amber woke up in towering tempers–the post-sugar hangover is monstrous. Eventually I rotated them through the potty and got some whole grain breakfast cereal into their bellies, and they calmed down. Jay woke up calm and collected, diligently practicing piano and getting ready for school with minimal reminders. Sometimes I wonder if he feels left out from all of the nagging and exasperation I expend on his sisters during the morning get-ready-routine. Before school this morning, I let the kids each pick ten pieces of Halloween candy to save, and the rest is trash. My newfound lower sugar tolerance made that an easier decision than usual.

When the school kids were safely aboard the school bus this morning, I was still in my pajamas and feeling quite worn out. After some deliberation, I cancelled on my running buddy and ran by myself instead, pushing Amber in the stroller on the bumpy canal road. Even though I felt bad for abandoning my friend, it was a good decision and helped me begin the process of recharging my maxed-out social batteries.

At first I thought my favorite part about Halloween was the gummy eyeballs, but the eyeballs will always be second to the Amber WonderCorn…

Lunch didn’t slow her down.