Halloween 2017
So I actually really like Halloween. Something about dressing up as someone (or something) else for a few hours makes me do a happy dance. And our daughter is still at a young age where dressing up for Halloween is still fun... I'll probably cry when the teenage torture stage hits and she decides she's 'too old and cool for stuff like that'... but for now, I will enjoy every minute!
I typically bust out my fancy face paints for the event and I meticulously plan a month or so ahead of what I'm going to turn my daughter and Kim into (and sometimes myself, if I have time... I donned an amazing Maleficent one year). Our daughter has chosen to be a variety of things... from popular tweenage cartoon characters (such as from Ever After High, Monster High, etc. - which was always fun to make her eyes look 3x their natural size) to your run-of-the-mill victorian vampire. Kim has opted for a mime one year (don't ask), and another year he allowed me to do a skull bandanna on him (where I painted only the lower half of his face, hence the term 'bandanna').
Halloween 2014: Doodle as Raven Queen from Ever After High
Halloween 2016: I painted a skull bandanna on Kim.
Halloween 2015: Me channeling my inner Maleficent. Those nails tho.
This year, doodle decided she wanted to be a cat (so vague yet specific at the same time), and Kim opted for the Knight King from Game of Thrones. I was eating up the potential challenge!
You may have noticed that I said "he opted" or "he allowed me". Halloween face paint time with Kim can be a hit or miss depending on star alignment, wind direction, and the earth's exact tilt degree towards the sun. It also takes patience and stamina to sit still for 45 minutes to an hour to get painted, which is overwhelming for the average bear, let alone a TBI survivor. He's overall very supportive of me when it comes to my unusually enthusiastic desire to paint faces during Halloween so he tries his best to entertain me, but sometimes things don't always work out even after a month of planning. Although my daughter got to be a ferocious cat for a few hours for trick-or-treating, we determined Halloween 2017 would have to miss out on having the Knight King roam our neighborhood streets. On top of that, Halloween was on a school night which, of course, makes the logistics of dinner/homework/trick-or-treating/passing out candy/getting ready for school and work the next day even more difficult. On top of that top-of-that, Kim wasn't feeling well battling a few health related issues and fatigue + moodiness was setting in... so in an effort to avoid any melt-downs from anyone (myself included) we decided to make things easy.
Halloween 2017: Doodle as a, vague yet specific, cat.
Halloween 2017: Cat and Vadar.
I got doodle ready for trick-or-treat early, had homework done, too. Made sure everyone had a pre-dinner snack. I took her trick-or-treating and let Kim stay back... even gave him the option of turning off the porch light until we got back so doodle and I can give out the candy (but he decided he was ok to at least do that). Kim wore his Darth Vadar mask instead while wielding his lightsaber to stay in the spirit for doodle (and maybe for me, too). Then when doodle and I came back, she helped Kim with passing out candy. Then we did an easy prep dinner and had time to get ready for the following school/work day. Low key for the win!
Even though I planned a month ahead, we just never know what his symptoms will decide to do that week or that day. So we plan and hope for the best, include a plan B for the worst, and just roll as best we can with the flow. The Knight King will just have to make his debut Halloween 2018... or maybe make a surprise appearance during holiday shopping or Thanksgiving dinner, hmmm.