This year was the first year we did not hand out candy or any other treat, which was a little weird to me. We decided to go with friends up to cousin Rooney's neighborhood but neither Renae nor I wanted to stay home as Renae did last year.
When we got up to Aunt Susie's we had a little dinner and the kids prepped for the trick-or-treating. The kids all got into a little huddle, put their arms up around each others shoulders kind of swaying back and forth, their heads lowered. Rooney started in with a kind of low rhythmic humming to set the tempo, then Felix begins "alright, this our one night, we've waited all year for this. This our night". The kids answer back in unison "OUR NIGHT". The humming and swaying continue, Felix continues, his voice increasing in intensity "We are going out to the these cold, wet streets and not coming back until our bags are full of candy!" "Full of candy!" comes the response followed by deep rhythmic grunting. They are all hopping up and down, whooping and grunting. Charlie bellows "What are we going to DO?" "Get Candy!" comes the reply. "WHAT are we going to DO?" "Get CANDY". "I said, "WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO!?". "GET CANDY!!". Now they are all fired up and eager to go. In actuality, none of that happened- though we did eat dinner and the kids were pretty excited.
Above are some of Felix's closest friends, in order: April, Charlie, Batman, Rooney, and Clara. As they are older they were able get around more this year and bring in a good haul. Tragedy struck, however, for poor Felix who slipped and banged his knee hard on the concrete. He tried to stick it out, he went to some more houses, but he was really hurt and just wanted to go home. I felt so bad for him; his friends offered to go up for him, but the pain was too much so we headed back home.I think his fall will probably stick with me for a while. He had been anticipating this night for a month or so; he had picked out his costume, he was so proud of how the mask fit, and he was so excited to be out with his friends. As a parent, it's emotionally painful to watch something your child was so excited end in such a way. He's probably over it. I hope so.
