And, then, today, a number of factors conspired to unravel my perfectly laid plans:
Factor 1: Evan (almost 2) was terrified of his handed-down lion costume when we tried it on for a trial run this morning. In fairness to him, this is an older costume (they don't make 'em like that anymore), it is quite realistic, and I made what turned out to be a critical mistake of marching him directly to the mirror when I put it on him.
But, not to be dissuaded, I developed a back-up costume after rummaging through drawers and closets. Evan could be an adorable Army soldier garbed in an odd assortment of camouflage and with a darkened face.
Factor 1 averted.
Factor 2: Evan woke up from his afternoon nap in a rare and horrendous funk. The usual tricks (book reading, lining up dinosaurs, a cold cup of milk) fell flat quickly. Even lighting the candle in the jack o' lantern outside failed to perk him up. I nursed Christopher (3 months) and watched Evan writhing and whining on the floor...and hoped for the best.
Factor 2 was still a factor.
Factor 3: My sister and her assorted companions were supposed to arrive at our house around 4:30. I planned for an hour long visit, dinner at 5:30 and off to trick or treating. Our visitors did not, however, arrive until 5:30. Dinner was already getting cold on the stove when they came in. Evan was still fussing for unbeknownst reasons.
I mentally revised my time frame. We would skip the costume parade for Aunt Katie et al., in order to save time (and, hopefully, to avoid any further Evan meltdown). I nursed Christopher again, a little early, figured we'd pop the chicken back in the oven to re-warm it and enjoyed our abbreviated visit.
Factor 3 averted.
Factor 4: Just as we sat Evan down to his dinner, with plans to rush him through it as quickly as possible, I heard something outside. It was...rain. Pouring, torrential rain. Apparently, the weather forecast had gotten the timing a little wrong.
Factor 4 was definitely a factor.
Evan seemed completely unaffected by the abrupt end to our trick or treating plans. He was - finally - happy and chewing contentedly on his green beans. Christopher, however, had an early meltdown and needed to be nursed again, and put to bed. He never wore his adorable pumpkin costume. And Evan never wore his camo.
By 8:00, we had two sleeping boys, two unwrinkled costumes, and no candy to nibble on. And, Mommy and Daddy were the ones who were disappointed.
