Curious George is dead

When I get home from school in the afternoons, Alex has usually just woken up from his nap.  Like any great mom, I give him a sugary snack and turn on the TV while I take a short power nap. 
I always pick a 30 minute (~24 min) show and it's usually Curious George because he has loved that monkey since he arrived in this country.  Truth be told, I love that monkey, too.

About a week before Halloween I was napping during George and was very suddenly awoken by a loud and fearful scream from Alex.  He then [very slowly] jumped (slid off) off the couch and ran (shuffled) into my room like he was being chased by a monster (a very slow monster).  Of course I was startled and groggily looked for the source of his distress.  Only later did it become funny because he does nothing fast.  It was a slow motion and very dramatic event and even though I would never abandon him during the zombie apocalypse, I am already resentful that I will not even stand a chance because he will be the cause of both our immediate deaths. (my knees and myopia would lead to my eventual demise under childless circumstances.) 

Anyway.

I looked up at the TV and it was an episode where George is afraid of the dark.  When he was in bed at night, they made his furniture look like monsters.  The man in the yellow hat gave him a flashlight and when he shined the flashlight on the monsters, they reappeared as his regular furniture...but Alex missed that part because he [kind of] ran out of the room.
Great.  Halloween was in a week and even though I turned off the TV and comforted him, he was glued to my leg for the remainder of the evening, whimpering.

Halloween is not my favorite.  I hate all things haunted houses and scary movies.  My piano teacher threw a Halloween party when we lived in Oklahoma and she turned part of her house into a haunted tour.  We got to the last room and her kids jumped out from behind the washer and dryer and I ran all the way back to the main room...with the snacks.  I was only 15...kidding...6.  I also remember having recurring nightmares about the wicked witch of the west from Wizard of Oz and straining my ears so hard at night listening for footsteps. 

So I empathized with Alex's developing sense of fear as he learns more about the world around him and develops an imagination.  I was worried that he would hate Halloween this year and more selfishly, worried that he would begin to cry and scream when we left him alone in his room at bedtime.  We are so freaking lucky, and I know it, that we can put him in bed, turn the lights out, close the door and he sleeps through the night without coming out or calling for us.  Part of me never wants that to end.  Our family likes to sleep!

Even though he never wants to watch Curious George now after the monster episode, Halloween ended up being okay...and even fun.

We went to the neighborhood Halloween party in the afternoon.  The boy who wouldn't go near the ponies just a month earlier at Grapefest, assured me he wanted to ride the pony at the party.

"Alex, are you sure you want to ride the pony?  It's a live pony..."

He nodded yes.

We signed the waiver, I put him on the pony and he rode like he's ridden all his life.

seriously, who taught him how to ride a pony?

We walked home, ate some dinner and then went trick-or-treating.  It took us 40-ish minutes to hit about 6 houses, but we finally got to meet some of our neighbors and Alex understood what was happening better than last year.

the mask for this toddler costume did not take into account a giant baby bobble head.  if worn properly, the eyes fell at his forehead.

A big thanks to everyone at work for eating all the candy he got, plus all of the extra candy (and there was a ton!) we had left over. ;-)