The Longest Halloween

You may be wondering why we are posting our Halloween pictures so late – 7 days late to be exact. It has nothing to do with Mommy’s laziness, or the fact that she has been quite stressed out with the move (the months of uncertainty regarding if/when we are returning, of (not) having a house upon return, and timing the arrival of the household goods before the arrival of the baby), or her exhaustion from trying to sort out the ridiculous US Embassy websites to interpret labor and immigration laws in an effort to bring Yaneth back to the States with us, or even her hormonal emotional fluctuations about leaving behind her pampered life here in Mexico.

No, our tardiness has only to do with the fact that in our house we still have not completed our Halloween celebrations. While the candy is almost gone, the sugar skulls were packed in boxes and mental preparations for Thanksgiving are underway, I have yet to retire my Halloween costume. I actually started wearing it two weeks before Halloween, when Nani bought me my Cinderella dress and slippers from the Disney Store during my visit to New Jersey. And I have barely removed it since – insisting on wearing it nearly every day, starting with the Diwali party Dadi had at her house in mid October.

I then wore it to the Newcomers Halloween Party, which was Mommy’s last big event as President. I’m really glad that we made it back from the US in time for it because all the kids and parents who attended had a real blast. There were probably 150 people there, dressed in all kinds of costumes from princesses to witches to monsters and more. They also had all kinds of Mexican goodies to eat, like papas en espiral and quesadillas, plus tons and tons of American Halloween candy (which Mommy and Daddy pilfered from me for themselves when they thought I wasn’t looking). It was a packed three hours filled with craft making – from popcorn hands to mask decorating to cupcake garnishing – as well as a modified version of trick-or-treating, a magician and even a bouncy house (something that is apparently a must-have at any Mexican fiesta)!

A few days later I got to wear my Cinderella costume to school. Mommy tried for weeks to convince me to wear my Tinkerbell costume from last year, but I refused to give up my Cinderella dress. At first she wanted to use last year’s costume because she was trying to be cheap economically practical (in preparation for our new life in NJ) by not buying something new, since no one in Mexico had seen the Tinkerbell costume, and it fits much better this year than last year anyway. But even after Nani bought me the new costume as a birthday present, I realized that deep down Mommy just wanted me to look like the toddler/little girl from last year. She and Daddy are having a hard time accepting the fact that I look like – and actually am – a big girl princess now. And everyone knows that big girl princesses don’t wear last year’s outfits.

We do, however, have no qualms about wearing the same Cinderella dress every single day around the house, to the park, to the supermarket and even to bed.