Pace has a love-hate relationship with Halloween. He has always been fascinated by the “spookiness” of the holiday but is afraid of it at the same time. Last Halloween, his teacher helped him make a skeleton that moved at all the joints by using staples as hinges. This activity made such an impression that we have been watching, listening to, and helping Pace make “moving” skeletons, super-heroes, and movie characters ever since.
As Halloween approached this year, Pace began to notice the decorations going up with combined wonder and terror. He talked aloud about the scary ghosts, spooky skeletons, and creepy Jack-O-lanterns. Although no one seemed to pay much attention, he continued to muse.
Last week, he went with me to the grocery store. Frys had really done it up for Halloween; the entire produce department was alive with all kinds of spooks and ghosts. I heard Pace moaning out of the corner of my ear; things like “Do you think these ghosts are real?” and “I don’t want to get too close to those scary goblins, they might eat me.” He climbed into the cart, scrunched down, and hid his eyes although at almost six, he is really too big for the cart. I didn’t pay any attention to him, this was nothing new and I had groceries to buy! Then, while I was selecting apples, I could ignore him no longer. He yelled out, “MOM! ARE YOU JUST GOING TO STAND THERE GETTING APPLES AND BE DOOMED?!?!?!” I looked up at Pace; he was wide-eyed and totally serious. All around, customers burst into laughter. Unflustered, I answered, “Yes I am! I need apples and I am going to pick the best ones even if it means that I am going to stand here and be doomed!” And I made a mental note that Pace needs to stop watching Scooby-Doo.
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