There are a many things I look forward to doing with my children. There are a few things that I have been so eager to do I say to myself - "I can't wait until she is old enough to do [XYZ]". I may have even jumped the gun on some things. When Peach first learned to walk, I rushed her to a playground (and found myself exhausted trying to keep her from jumping off every ledge in sight). When she was 17 months old, I took her to Disney World. She liked it, but also seemed to be just as amused at crinkling a paper bag. I took her again a year later and that time it was magic! She still talks about the fireworks. The first year I took Peach trick or treating, she had only been walking for a few months and did not really get what was going on. The second time I took her (last year), she had fun and seemed to vaguely grasp the whole door-to-door / candy concept.
This year I could not wait to take her. She picked out her costume weeks in advance (Alice in Wonderland). Unfortunately, as luck would have it, she got knocked in the head by a swing at daycare at around 4pm Halloween day. Fortunately, she was fine, but needed stitches. She did not get home from the hospital until 8:10pm - usually on the late side for trick or treating. Still, there seemed to be just enough time to throw her costume on and knock on a few doors. Peach was so excited. She was talking the whole time about strategies to optimize candy collection and who she was going to give her candy to (Daddy). We made a lot of progress in 30 minutes and she had so much fun.
I felt a little guilty. When Peach was getting her stitches, I was overcome with the fear that she was going to miss out on Trick Or Treating entirely. Sounds silly, doesn't it? I knew she was going to be just fine from a medical standpoint, which is certainly the most important thing. I just knew that I would be so disappointed if we did not get to go. I'm not sure why it was so important to me. Was it important to Peach? I think so, but she'd probably be just fine if she missed it. I suppose there are some things us parents really look forward to doing with our kids. For me, these special occasions are like a reward for all of the hard work it takes to raise a child. We get to see our kids enjoy many of the same things we enjoyed as a kid. To have that taken away would have had a far greater impact than one would think.
