Sacramento Parent Magazine

My son decided to dress up as one of the characters from the online game Wizards 101 this year for Halloween.

“Mom, I need a black robe, a stick to go across my shoulders like a scarecrow, and a real pumpkin on my head,” he told me.

“Honey, a real pumpkin is going to be so heavy. How about a foam pumpkin, or I could make you one out of paper and paint it,” I offered.

But he insisted it had to be a real pumpkin.

I even took him to Michael’s and tempted him with their huge selection of ridiculously discounted, realistic foam pumpkins. He nearly threw a fit. So we went to the grocery store and bought a real pumpkin. And we started carving and scraping bowls and bowls full of flesh from the pumpkin. It went from nearly twenty pounds to probably three pounds. Still kind of heavy, in my opinion, to wear on one’s head, but my son was completely sure he could handle it.

He was right. The pumpkin head was a hit. As my daughter said, “He got so much attention while trick or treating!”

And though the pumpkin looked worse for the wear after 24 hours (see the fancy stitching i had to do to keep the chin together? and how about those candy crumbs on his shirt?), his Halloween costume will certainly go down in history as the most memorable costume we’ve ever made.

My children are at Grandma’s house today making cookies, and I am home alone!  While I have a list a mile long of things I need to do, what I really want to do is run out to Target, buy a package of white socks, and make some skeletons.

My kids would be thrilled to receive these on Halloween!  You can make some too - just pop over to Martha Stewart’s website for instructions.  I’ll see you in the men’s sock aisle at Target!

While driving my son to the dentist, the topic of the tooth fairy came up. Not realizing how warped the entire process sounded to a 4 year old, I proceeded to tell him all the juicy details. I excitedly told him, “Your teeth are going to fall out! Then you will put them under your pillow and the tooth fairy will come into your room in the middle of the night, steal them while you are sleeping and leave you MONEY!”

This is what proceeded after.

Riley: WHAT.

Stunned, with eyes as huge as saucers, he asks me, “ My teeth are going to fall out?”

“Ah, well yes,” I replied not feeling as excited as I slowly comprehend what I have just told him.

“Someone is going to come into my room in the middle of the night?”

“Yes but it is a fairy, she’s nice and has wings,” I told him trying to soothe things over.

‘She’s going to leave me money?” he asked me, “so I can buy new teeth?”

Well kind of, I told him REALLY wishing I had never said anything because he looks traumatized either from the fact that he is going to lose his precious teeth which he has worked so hard to acquire or maybe from the fact that stranger danger is going to be coming into his room.

And then the final question, “When is this happening?”

I assured him not for awhile and quickly changed the subject. Next up, go buy a book to console his fears that mommy unknowingly instills on a daily basis.

“Mom, can I read to you now?”, my son asks almost every night.  Sometimes even first thing in the morning.

I find it hard to believe that last year at this time, he was just learning to recognize the letters of the alphabet and their sounds.  Now he can read words, sentences, paragraphs, even whole books.  He just finished reading The Little Bear Treasury to me last night.  Over 120 pages!

I found experiencing a sense of deja-vu at the library today as I combed the Junior Reader section for new books which he can read.  It was several years ago that I was looking in the very same section, selecting the very same books, for my daughter to read.  She’s moved on to tween fiction, and even thumbed through a copy of Jaws at the library today.

My heart just swells to hear and see my children reading.  Of all the skills they will learn, I believe reading will open up the most doors for them.  There is a whole world of possibility when letters of the alphabet are strung together.  I can’t wait to see where reading takes them.