What an extra hour on Halloween can get you…

This year not only did Halloween fall on a Saturday but a Saturday with an extra hour! In a distant world that I was quite fond of that translated to extra bar time! Adam and I would have packed our bags, organized groups of friends, found the best hot spot for the night and gotten our costume coordinated to be award winning. This year was a little different. Weeks before Halloween a costume was bought. That costume never made it to a bar or even on our backs. It was a little fuzzy Winnie the Pooh costume just big enough for a 25-pound little person and just warm enough for a little guy to withstand some trick or treating. Halloween as we knew it had evolved. It evolved from a trick or treating extravaganza to a bar going crazy event to a family friendly G-rated evening. Years ago I would have cringed at the thought of missing an opportunity of a bar crawling night of chaos. Call it maturity; call it responsibility, I like to call it love. Last Saturday night, Halloween with an extra hour, there was nowhere else in the world I wanted to be but with that little Winnie the Pooh. As we held his hand to take his steps to the front doors of strangers’ houses, there was a thrill inside me that I had never experienced. As he ran to the front door to give fellow trick or treaters candy, he squealed with delight and so did I. From time to time I long for the days where I was independent and free to galavant as I wished but I can never feel that I’m losing out when I have gained so much. With each step taking him one step closer to becoming a person, a child and ultimately an adult, I marvel in the fact that I’m lucky enough to be along for the ride. This was our second Halloween with this marvelous child but each thing we do together is more and more fun. Every day he is more able to appreciate the experiences we have, my heart swells a little more with love for this little person that has so dramatically changed my life. So as we gained an extra hour on a Saturday night Halloween, I was tucked away in my bed but really there was nowhere else I wanted to be. Even when the baby didn’t realize the extra hour meant we could sleep in 🙂