Saturday afternoon, two of AJ�s cousins, one aunt and a grandmother came out to see him in all his bumblebee glory in the neighborhood Halloween parade, the official opening of the annual Halloween party. AJ was not at all certain that he wanted to participate, as the weather was rapidly taking a turn for the worse, but he eventually agreed and we marched around with a slew of vampires, princesses, horses, hobos, and assorted superheros. The whole thing would have been a lot more fun had not the significant majority of children involved been so badly behaved. I�ve never seen so many bratty kids in one place in my life. So I shouldn�t have been surprised to discover that when we told the trick-or-treaters who came to our door to �help themselves� they went in with both fists and took off without so much as a thank you. Apparently manners are out of fashion.

Although the party itself was kind of a wash, AJ loved the hayride and didn�t even complain about the freezing wind as we were trucking about the neighborhood behind a tractor, inhaling diesel fumes.

Trick-or-treating was much more successful, although apparently I am the only parent in the neighborhood who a) insists on trick-or-treating in the neighborhood where we live, and b) insists that my child walk. All of AJs playgroup friends were either being driven from house to house by their parents or were taken to nearby subdivisions where the houses are close together and the driveways are short. The whole experience would have made me feel very curmudgeonly, had not AJ been so excited. He literally sprinted up and down each and every driveway, hesitating only when he heard a barking dog (�I don�t like doggies. They�re too licky�) or once when he was startled by a talking skeleton on someone�s front porch (�There aren�t any talking things at THIS house, are there, Mommy?� he asked at each and every house following).

Here is AJ preparing to embark on his trick-or-treating expedition.

Note he is wearing his new red shoes, his first pair of Chuck Taylors, purchased yesterday morning while we were trying to distract him from thinking about trick-or-treating. If you ask him (and probably even if you don�t) he will tell you that he picked them out himself and that he intends to wear them every day.

I am now off to finish what I sincerely hope is the final version of my paper for next week's conference and to see if I can repair AJ's tricycle which somehow fell off it's hook on the wall and under my rear tire as I was backing into the garage after dropping AJ off at school this morning. It doesn't look good.

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