Halloween on Westwick Walk

Our first Halloween in our new neighbourhood has come and gone, and we've all survived, and stocked up on enough sugar to keep the four of us on a high until Christmas. I had no idea how many "spooks" to prepare for here. My neighbour said that since this is a new street, the number increases every year. So I bought candy --- LOTS of candy. And we really didn't have that many trick-or-treaters at the door. Not nearly as many as we had on Crocket Street, anyway. I'm not someone who counts each bag I plop a candy into, but I would estimate we had around 80 kids at our door this year. Unfortunately, that means lots of candy left for me to munch on. And if it is made of chocolate, I am helpless to resist it!

Usually Connor and Janelle both know what they are going to be for Halloween long before the actual day arrives. Connor loves to get a costume and then make it even "cooler" with stuff he finds around the house. This year he had decided he wanted to be a werewolf. I almost gave in to actually making him a werewolf costume, but gave up after I couldn't find the right faux fur and realized it would really be quite a lot of work. I looked everywhere for a werewolf costume for him, but didn't find one until this week at the party store, where we found the perfect werewolf costume advertised -- for way more than I was willing to pay. Connor begged and pleaded and offered to pitch in half from his allowance, so I gave in — only to find that the "perfect werewolf costume" was sold out. We considered buying a mask and gloves and making the rest, but even that was so expensive I couldn't justify it unless Connor would be perfectly happy, and he didn't think he would be. So he resorted to an orange prisoners' jumpsuit. Much more economical. And as we found out Saturday afternoon when the zipper broke, CHEAP, CHEAP, CHEAP! Between Chris and I, we managed to fix the zipper temporarily — meaning until about five minutes before the trick-or-treating train was leaving. So out came the safety pins, which surprisingly, Connor was okay with. Needless to say, this is not a costume I'll be selling on Kijiji!

Janelle, on the other hand, knew what she was going to be for Halloween last Christmas. Aunt Tracy gave her a sweet Hannah Montana costume, which she used for dress up all year, but until a couple of weeks ago, still planned to wear on Halloween night. That's when Camryn from down the street arrived with a purple princess dress that she thought Janelle might like to wear for Halloween. First Janelle thought she might combine the two and be "Princess Hannah", but by Saturday she had decided that the Hannah wig had gotten way too messy to wear, and she really wanted curls in her hair. So yesterday around 4:30 we got out the curling iron and the hairspray and started attempting to curl my daughter's pin-straight hair. It took a lot of patience and bobby pins, but by 5:00 it looked adorable, and by 6:30 when they were ready to leave, a few of the curls were still in their places. Princess Janelle was happy anyway, and really, what else matters?

Chris and I divided up Halloween duty this year. He took our princess and escaped prisoner north up to the end of our subdivision and back to our house while I handed out candy, and then I took them south as far as the three of us could manage. I actually enjoy the fun part of Halloween. I hate the gruesome costumes and decorations, the horror movies on tv, and the desire to scare the living crap out of people. That isn't a holiday I want to celebrate with my kids. But carving pumpkins, fun costumes and some community commaraderie -- that's the part I can get into. I really enjoyed going door-to-door with the kids, visiting with my neighbours, and seeing what familiar faces from school live in which houses. I actually ended up travelling most of the way with my neighbour from across the street, who was dressed to the nines as a witch: green face, green hair, tall black hat, black dress, striped stockings and heels, while she pushed her baby in the stroller and followed her six-year-old Avatar from door-to-door. I had put on Janelle's Halloween headband with two orange and black pigtails, so we made quite a pair. My biggest struggle was getting Connor to wait for Janelle. He would have happily run around the whole neighbourhood if I had let him, and little Avatar was keeping up with him every step of the way. But just after 7:30, the baby started to cry and Janelle announced that she was done, so I sent my daughter home with the Wicked Witch of the West, and I soldiered on with the convict and Avatar. We arrived home at 8:00, to find most of the candy I had bought waiting for me.

Janelle, who is really amazingly self-aware for a seven-year-old, told me that she had already eaten her two pieces of candy and was ready to go to bed, and I had her tucked in and heard the story she wanted to read to me by 8:30. Connor, who would fight bedtime every step of the way, took a little longer, and was much more of a struggle to keep out of the candy, but by 9:15 he had settled down and we had finished reading a chapter of Harry Potter together.

Our first Halloween on Westwick Walk. Fun. Delicious. Exhausting. Over. Time to go put away the decorations for another year.

Time for a Babysitter!

We've lived here seven months, and the only times Chris and I have been out together on our own have been when we've had family visiting or when he has taken a few minutes away from work while the kids are in school. It's time to call a babysitter. This seems like one of the biggest obstacles we've faced since we moved here. But it probably wouldn't if we had different kids.

Correction: if we had different "kid". Janelle, I'm sure, will be thrilled to have a babysitter come. A new person to entertain! Connor, on the other hand, is a completely different story. When he was little he loved babysitters. When we lived in Kingston, having a babysitter was a rare treat. He loved it! In Fredericton, we very rarely had babysitters, since we had Nana and Grammie Haines close by, but when we did, it really wasn't a problem. Until he turned eight years old, and suddenly something in him snapped. He was terrified of having a babysitter. We'd had a bad experience with a sitter a couple of years earlier, when one of our neighbour girls had a boyfriend over and then lied to us about it. Connor was old enough to tell us the real story, and the "history" on our internet filled in the blanks. But this didn't seem to affect Connor negatively at the time. We just never invited that sitter back. Two years later, however, he seemed to develop a real phobia of having a babysitter. We would have people over to babysit whom Connor knew well, our next door neighbour or my friend's daughter, but it didn't seem to matter. Everytime it became a drawn out tearfest, that was quite embarrassing, and discouraged me from ever going anywhere again. In the end, we just kind of avoided the situation and only had Chris's mom or stepmother babysit from then on. But then we moved.

It's time to call a babysitter. I went to our church community group for the first time on Monday night, alone, because one of us had to stay home with the kids. The point of this group is really for both of us to go, so we can get to know people in our community. It is our opportunity to make some grown up friends. We decided that for the first week I would go alone, and while I was there I would see if I could get some recommendations of sitters in the area. It worked! I got the names of four highly recommended girls, all within a one km radius of our house. I decided I'd call one right away and see if she could sit for us next week. But I've been procrastinating. I chose the one I want to call. Jordyn. She lives right around the corner from us and was the top of everyone's list. She's 14, and has three younger siblings. She seems perfect! But I haven't called yet.

Yesterday was our school's Grand Opening Ceremony, so I attended to see Janelle's choir sing "This School is Your School". I sat with my neighbour, who happened to arrive at the same time as I did (late, as usual). I noticed the hostess of our community group sitting across the gym from me, with a woman who looked quite familiar, probably from school field trips or parents committee meetings. After the ceremony was over, this woman came over to talk to my neighbour, and she introduced us and told me she lives just around the corner. We chatted for a few minutes and she mentioned her oldest daughter, Jordyn. Hold on, I thought. Is this too much of a coincidence? I asked her last name, and sure enough, she is my future babysitter's mother. I told her that I'd just been given Jordyn's name as a possible sitter, and that I'd be calling soon. We continued to talk for several minutes, about our kids and the church, which she also attends. Before I left I said, "Well, tell Jordyn I'll be calling!" How cool is that?

So now I have to call. And I have to deal with Connor. We've already warned him many times that this is going to happen. Hopefully he'll take it like a 10-year-old! Or maybe he'll just beg me to wait until next year when he can babysit Janelle on his own. Tempting... But I don't think I can wait that long for an evening with grown ups. Time to bite the bullet. Wish me luck!

Neighbours

My kids got a ride to school, and home from school, with a neighbour today. I wasn't feeling very well today, so I really appreciated it. There is a nice couple down the street who have two children near our kids ages, their son is in Janelle's class, and we've gotten to know each other a bit since this school year started. She is an Educational Assistant at a school about 10 minutes away, and he is a fireman, so their kids are alone for just a few minutes after school, just a few days a week. I offered to drive them to and from school any day that it's rainy or cold and their parents are working, and to just be available if the kids need anything before or after school. The other day they offered to take my kids to and from school any day the dad isn't working. The mom dropped off a bag of hand-me-down clothes for Janelle yesterday. The kids are sweet, and I love getting to know my kids friends. They are good neighbours.

I've just been thinking about how important good neighbours are, especially this far from home. This is also a reminder to be a good neighbour. You never know how much it might mean to someone someday.

New Neighbours

We're not the new neighbours on our street anymore. The house next door to ours has been empty since shortly before we moved in, abandoned by a young man who found himself without a job and, apparently, without much hope. We've watched this sad little house move through the stages from abandonment to being re-inhabited. We answered our door the day after we moved in to a banker looking for the owner of the house. We watched workers fill a dumpster in the yard with all the belongings left behind by the previous owner. I saw the realtor put up the "For Sale" sign. I heard the lawn mowed weekly by a lawn company sent to keep the place in shape. I looked up the listing on MLS, and even peeked in the windows once to see what this sad little house looked like inside.

Three weeks ago a "Sold" sign appeared. Was it my imagination, or did the house look a little happier? I noticed a number of times in the evening a car would drive down our street and slow way down, the driver looking longingly at the little house next door. A few days ago the "For Sale" sign came down, and the kids speculated about when the new people would move in, and would they (please please please) have "kids our age". I warned them it was finally time to stop playing in the empty driveway next door. Yesterday morning I exchanged pleasantries with the meter-reader from London Hydro who came for a final reading before the new owners moved in. And finally, last night, Connor announced happily "There are people moving in next door! Mom, you have to go meet them!"

I'm really pretty shy about introducing myself to people. But my neighbour across the street is just about the friendliest woman you'd ever meet, and she was already out making friends with the young couple unloading the half ton in the yard, so I decided I might as well join her.

It's funny the things we notice on a first impression. The first thing that struck me about this young couple is how VERY young they are! If I had to guess, I would say early twenties. They made me feel so old! No wedding rings, but she is wearing a very large diamond, so I expect that wedding plans are underway. No kids to play with, but maybe there will be babysitting opportunities for my kids in a few years. Both were very friendly, and seemed happy to meet a few of their neighbours so quickly. The young woman seemed absolutely giddy about moving into her own house for the first time.

The sad little house looks downright content today. And Connor wants me to make cupcakes to take next door.