Luckily, he fell into the former category this year. I'm not sure how to describe his costume, other than to say he was an...ostrich jockey?
Whatever, it was hilarious.
He tried it on for a party on Saturday, only to find the battery pack for the fan that inflates it had a tiny screw in it, and I did not have a screw driver to open it. (I did my best to strip the screw with my house key, though--almost succeeded, which would've ruined the whole thing.)
Luckily, we got that whole debacle out of the way, so last night we were super prepared. Mark climbed into the ostrich, and tightened it up around his waist. He turned on the fan and immediately complained it wasn't working.
"Give it a minute," I said. And sure enough, his pants started filling up with air, and the ostrich came to life. Mark literally became an inflatable ostrich, and I couldn't stop laughing about it.
I always get lots of questions about Mark trick or treating at Halloween. People mean well, but they worry about a little diabetic kid eating tons of candy. The ironic thing is, all the running around usually makes Mark go low, and he eats the candy because he NEEDS to, not just because he wants to.
This year, Mark set a new record--he STARTED out low. His blood sugar was down to 48--talk about a Halloween scare! (It should be between 70-120.) So he started his sugar intake before he even went trick or treating! (He was trick-or-treating a low. ;-)
We headed over to his friend Jonah's house, but Mark had to deflate himself for the car ride over. I was still giggling.
Jonah's house looked AWESOME--his dad Greg had decorated it like a graveyard, with screeching monsters and flying ghosts. There were random body parts littering the lawn, strobe lights illuminating the whole scene, and occasionally, a fog machine hiding it. It was spooky and exactly what Halloween should be.
My friend Karen was sitting in the front yard, passing out candy. She was dressed as a witch, but a happy one, and she was greeted us cheerfully, in total contrast to the spooky yard.
Jonah was all decked out in a Jason costume, complete with a blood-spattered chainsaw he revved up as soon as he saw us. He kept disappearing into the shadows, alternately trying to scare people and to reload his candy bag.
The boys were itching to get out and get sugar, but I made Mark re-test first. His blood sugar had come up, but only to 96, which wasn't great, considering all the running he was about to do, and the fact that he'd eaten a whole dinner (including soda to bring him up) without giving himself any insulin. I knew I was risking a re-bound high, but I insisted he down a couple Pixie sticks before he left, and for once, he was happy to comply.
Our friend Liz showed up. Sean had gone to another friend's house, but Liz came to hang out with us, and we decided this should be a yearly event, even after the kids grew up. Who says trick or treating is just for kids?
Mark and Jonah returned a few times, almost as if they were unsure what to do with the independence they so badly craved. We kept sending them back out until the third time, when Mark insisted he couldn't run in his big old air-bag ostrich outfit. He borrowed a black cape from Jonah, then started crawling around the dark lawn, freaking me out. They left, and returned a bit later, when Mark borrowed another costume from Jonah:
He sat dead still in a chair, and looked like a decoration. Until someone reached out to touch him, and he scared the bejesus outta them!
Jonah was really into scaring people. He did a great job, carefully picking his victims. He sat dead still in a chair, until a few middle-schoolers asked if he was real. We said no, so they bravely inched closer and closer to him...
...Until he jumped out, chain saw roaring, and sent them screaming. One kid literally jumped a foot in the air, and we all burst into laughter. Well-played, Jonah, well-played!
Some other friends came by, and the boys ran off into the neighborhood again. It was fun and sad to see them go off into the night on their own. My little boy suddenly seemed like such a big boy, and I wasn't quite ready for that yet, but hey, nobody ever asks me.
Greg, Liz, Karen and I sat out front until the trick or treaters stopped coming. Mark and Jonah ran inside to sort and trade their candy, but that ended when Mark just donated all his to Jonah. (A consequence of the Great Marshmallow Creme Fiasco the day before.) I was expecting a lot more resistance from Mark, but was proud to see him accept his punishment like a man.
And so ended another great Halloween. I'm guessing we only have one good one left before Mark decides to hang with his friends instead of his mom (even if it was only in brief spurts). So I relished this year...and I still can't stop laughing about that ridiculous ostrich!
No comments:
Post a Comment