Halloween comes early!

We weren't planning on doing Halloween this year. I know, I know: everybody seemed to think I was depriving Kate by not going trick-or-treating but, I swear, I wasn't trying to be cruel. It's just that Kate was not interested in the holiday and she also doesn't know what candy is and, really, how much longer can I get away with that?! Our plans changed, though, because Sisters hosts a big children's parade where little kids get to march all over downtown and all the businesses hand out treats to them. So we went and IT WAS AWESOME. Kate still doesn't "get" Halloween. She had no input into her costume because we had to do it last minute. She was a ballerina because what we had that would qualify as a costume was a tutu. I thought she looked fantastic but it was a bit ironic that she was a ballerina because I'm sure it's about the last thing she would choose to be if she had a say. In fact, she wasn't too thrilled about putting it on, so I had to bribe her a bit by letting her pack along some of her tools. A ballerina with tools? Why not. Also, earlier in the day, I was trying to go over the whole trick-or-treating thing again and was telling her that she would say "trick-or-treat" and people would give her treats. To this she replied, "I want tricks instead." Now that's an obstinate toddler for you. Despite not understanding what was going on, she had a great time at the parade. She was looking around in awe and it must be weird to see tons of kids running around in weird outfits when you truly have no idea WHY. She didn't care about the candy at all, and skipped right by about half the businesses, but she did love parading around and walked the whole way (about an hours worth). She took to picking up leaves, using curbs as balance beams, watching trucks and kicking rocks. All while dragging her candy bag and sometimes opening up for some treats. By the end, I was carrying her bag and she was carrying a leaf. She wanted to do it all again, though, so I think she liked the whole process anyway. As for me, I thought it was about the best thing ever. What is cuter than hundreds of kids all dolled up and wandering around on a sunny day? Not too much in my book. When we got home, Kate was excited to see M&Ms in her bag and she happily organized them into color groups for quite some time. Proving that she still doesn't know what candy is, she got out a green jelly bean and said, "mommy, is this a little avocado?" I think her teeth are safe one more year!