Boy of Mystery

Taz is obsessed with Halloween. He talks about it all year round: it could be June or January, and out of the blue he will say, "Not gonna go Halloween." "Not gonna" is his way of saying "I really want to, but in my experience you're probably about to tell me no." And, it being June or January, of course we have to tell him, no, we're not going out for Halloween today. (We know his teachers have gotten tired of hearing about Halloween, because now and then he will say, "we're not gonna talk about Halloween today.")

So, when it actually is Halloween, it seems like the least we can do to take him out. I put him in his stroller this evening, draping over the back of it a cheesy plastic vampire cape we bought I forget how many years ago, and off we went. We usually do just a few houses, but at least he gets to go out for Halloween.

Only he didn't seem that into it. We went to three houses, and he did allow at one point that he preferred chocolate, but he didn't smile or get the face on that he does when he's really excited about something, and/or he's plotting mischief. I took him back home with his candy and he went to sleep soon thereafter.

A little while ago while I was changing his diaper he looked up at me drowsily and said, "Not gonna go Halloween." Was the experience not what he expected? Should we have stayed out longer? When he talks about Halloween does he have something quite different in mind? At his old K-2 school (where he stayed through what would ordinarily have been his fourth-grade year) they always had a big Halloween parade with all the kids; is that what he's thinking of? Or is Halloween just something he randomly repeats at this point?

I wish I knew.