The Pumpkin is “Sasisfied”

Halloween is the most anticipated holiday of the year in our house — and not just because of the candy. No, in our house we can’t wait for Halloween (by which we mean all of October) because of the pumpkins and the lights.

So it was fitting that again this year, Ethan wanted to dress as a pumpkin for Halloween. Unfortunately, being the delinquent parents that we are, we waited until the end of September to buy his costume, which meant that all of the pumpkin costumes in his size were sold out. Luckily that still left enough time for Mom to make a costume, so we were safe.

I don’t know what it’s like in other parts of the country, but in our neighborhood people decorate for Halloween. Pumpkins, lights, skeletons, cobwebs … it’s over the top and Ethan LOVES it.

The other newish trend that we’ve capitalized on is the local businesses holding their “Trick or Treat” events. This year, we did Trick or Treat on Southport and in North Center, so Ethan had quite a haul before Halloween even arrived.

But I was pleasantly surprised on the evening of the 30th, when Ethan and I were working together on goody bags for his classmates. Without prompting, Ethan told me, “We can use some of my candy for the bags. I think I will be sasisfied with what I get tomorrow.” And he promptly dumped out his pumpkin full of candy, sorted out the few things he wanted to keep and put the rest into our trick or treat bowl.

He then launched into a soliloquy about satisfaction: “I will be sasisified with my candy. And when I am playing with my toys, if Mommy tells me I can’t play with something, I will walk away and be sasisfied with my other toys. And I will be sasisfied with the food I am given, and with my veggies …”

It’s very humbling to be given a lecture on being satisfied by a three year old. (But don’t worry — satisfaction is still a work in progress even for Ethan.)