My little Minnie Mouse

I love Halloween on a military post!  I love that everyone gets in on the act--parents and kids--it's a family affair. I love that everyone in a neighborhood sits out on their front porch (weather allowing) and passes out candy together. Most of all, I love that trick-or-treating has a time limit--no starting in the morning, and no doorbells ringing at 11:00pm. I also love that I know so many of my neighbors and they all got to see my sweet Minnie Mouse. This year, I saw Halloween through my daughter's eyes, and I wouldn't have missed this for the world. We'd talked about dressing up as Minnie Mouse for a few weeks, but I didn't let her see the costume until tonight because dress-up is her favorite thing to do these days and I didn't want to ruin the costume or have it lose it's appeal before t-or-t-ing. While we ate dinner, I told her we were going to dress up and go get treats and she wasn't too sure she wanted to dress up, but when I got out the costume, she saw it and started peeling off her regular clothes. Her eyes widened with serious disbelief when I got out my makeup box and told her she was going to get to wear Mommy's makeup (mascara on her nose and cheeks). 

We started out with our neighbors, Pammie and Maddie, who ran from door to door boldly, but C wasn't so sure about going up to strangers and talking to them (not necessarily a bad trait!) and we were left lagging behind. After the first house, she came back to Mommy and Grammy and said, "I got a treat!" with some surprise. The expression on her face when I said we could go get more treats made me giggle. I'm not sure she believed me right away. I was so impressed with C's politeness tonight. At some stops she forgot to say "trick or treat," but only once did she fail to say "thank you" (and that was toward the end and I think she was just tired.) Most of the time the order got confused and she'd say "thank you," and then "trick or treat." But everyone thought that was just the cutest thing. A few people didn't believe she was (just a week shy of) three years old. She spoke up loud and boldly after she got used to the whole ritual. Such a grown up girl! Everyone thought she was adorable as Minnie Mouse (the only one I saw all night). At one house, the treat-giver must have said, "you're so cute." three or four times. When she came back down the steps to Mommy and Grammy, she quipped, "I'm cute."  A few houses later she started announcing, "Minnie Mouse is here!" as we climbed the steps of the porch. We laughed so hard. 

As far as her treats go...she was very proprietary over her pillowcase, wouldn't even let Grammy or Mommy carry it for her when her arms were really drooping. She wouldn't let the givers put the treat directly in the bag, she carried the bag up, took the treat, and then brought the treat and bag back to G & M to put hold the bag open for her and she would place it in. When she received more than one treat at a house, she would meticulously place one treat in the bag at a time. 

I was also really impressed by her responsibility. She got a piece of gum open and was chewing it for a while before I realized she had her first piece of gum in her mouth. She didn't swallow it, just chewed it for a while. When she was done, she pulled it out, held it up and said "Mommy throw this away." She didn't swallow it, throw it on the ground, but gave it to me to toss. What an awesome kid! 

By the time it was all over and we headed back home, she was so tired, but she still told us all about the evening: "being Minnie Mouse in the dark, and say trick-or-treat and thank you, and get treats! It's so much fun! Go home, show Grammy and Papa my treats. I share with them. I share with you." (So sweet--she was willing to share treats with us, without being asked!) I guess the challenge tomorrow will be explaining to her that just because she dresses up as Minnie Mouse again, she doesn't necessarily get treats! Then again, I think the dressing up part was the bigger hit of the night.