LJ Slowdown?

Is it just me, or is LJ freezing a LOT this morning? I'm getting a bit pissed off, because I'm trying to comment on some of my flist, only to look up from the keyboard to see that nothing is happening. Just that damned hourglass. Very annoying...

LJ Slowdown?

Is it just me, or is LJ freezing a LOT this morning? I'm getting a bit pissed off, because I'm trying to comment on some of my flist, only to look up from the keyboard to see that nothing is happening. Just that damned hourglass. Very annoying...

Halloween 2006

I need to thank stairflight for reminding me to post about our Halloween.

Sebastian dressed as Willy Wonka. He's been wearing that costume for two months now, ever since Teri's mother bought it for him. He looks ridiculously cute in it. I do find it annoying that the hat is nothing like the hat in either movie; it's not a top hat, more a...I don't know. He looks a little like a leprechaun when he wears it, though.

There was no cane with the costume, which was also a shortcoming. Sebastian appropriated a long dowel from the back of my Morris chair, but I wouldn't let him take it out of the house - that chair is something of a family heirloom.

Anyway, Halloween was a busy night. Sebastian had gone on the train with me that morning to - whoa! Let's back up.

I can't believe I didn't post this already, but on Sunday morning we went out to Cracker Barrel for breakfast. Teri had a yen for grits, as she often does. Sebastian didn't want to go, and I'll admit that I'm getting a bit sick of Cracker Barrel myself (plus we really shouldn't be spending the money), but Teri would not be dissuaded.

When we got there the place was packed, and we were told there was a 25-minute wait. So we circulated in the store. A few minutes later, though, two people came in wearing incredibly scary rubber masks. One was a demonic black skull with long black hair, and the other was a demonic white skull with long white hair. As soon as Sebastian saw them, he totally freaked out. He screamed, cried, and begged to go home. He said he needed to go to the bathroom to throw up, and when I took him in there, he went to the toilet and tried, desperately but unsuccessfully, to puke.

(Fortunately he doesn't know about sticking his fingers down his throat. And he hasn't yet manifested the Maranci ability to vomit at will. Yeah, I can do that - deliberately reverse peristalsis. But I don't like to.)

It was very embarrassing, and I really felt for my little guy; he begged and pleaded for us to take him home, tears pouring down his face. But we stayed, and tried to keep away from that damned couple. We found out that they were grandparents, and regular customers. The man took his mask off, but the woman didn't. Were they aware that they were scaring the shit out of a five-year-old? I don't know, but I doubt it. We stayed as far away from them as possible, and there was a pretty high noise level in the place.

Anyway, we were eventually seated, but Sebastian didn't get any calmer. He clung to me and wept uncontrollably, making a huge scene. Finally Teri told the waitress to pack up our order to go. We left a generous tip.

Ironically, when we got home we found that they'd forgotten to pack Teri's grits.

Anyway, as you can see my little guy has a big fear of scary costumes. That dates back to last Halloween, when a 20-year-old idiot wearing an incredibly scary costume jumped out from behind some bushes right into Sebastian's face.

Okay, now we can move back (forward) to last Tuesday, October 31st. Sebastian and I took the train to Boston. Just before we got on the train it crossed my mind that there might be one or more people on the train wearing costumes. I very stupidly said so, and of course Sebastian started to get scared. Teri said she didn't think anyone would wear a scary costume to work, though, and that she didn't think we'd have any problem. Sebastian still didn't want to go on the train, but it was really too late to change our plans - Teri had to go to work, after all - so we talked him into it.

Sometimes when you're a parent you have to do things that you'd really rather not do.

Inevitably, at the very next stop someone came on wearing a demonic black skull mask and wearing a black Grim Reaper's cloak and hood. He came in on the opposite end of the train, and sat down on the end but on our side, facing us; we had a perfect unobstructed view of him. Fortunately Sebastian didn't see him, and I spent the next hour in a frantic attempt to make sure that Sebastian DIDN'T see him.

I succeeded. 'Nuff said.

Sebastian spent the day at the Children's Museum in Boston with my parents. When I finished work, they brought him over and he and I took the train to Franklin. Teri met us at the station and we went to his final swimming lesson. There are three other kids in his class, all of them girls, but this time something I suspected and hoped would happen, did: none of the other kids showed up. So Sebastian got a private lesson for the whole half hour, and had a lot of fun.

He's pretty good in the pool. There's one girl who's a lot better than him, but Sebastian goes under water pretty well, kicks his legs well, and isn't overly afraid of the water. He does have a problem holding his breath for a long time, but that's something we'll keep working on. We should also get him in the pool more often; maybe we'll take him to family swim at the gym on the weekends.

Incidentally, I think we'll be signing him up for more swimming classes later this month.

Anyway, once the lesson was over we took him to the house of a friend of Teri's mother for trick or treating. He was already very nervous, though pleased to be wearing his Willy Wonka outfit; he also had a King Cobra mask that my parents had bought for him at the museum, but he decided not to wear that (except for a little while on the train).

The night was warm and lovely; you couldn't ask for nicer weather.

Once we got to the neighborhood, though, the nervousness kicked in again. We only went to three or four houses; one of them, by a very odd coincidence, was the house of a boy who takes swimming lessons at the same time as Sebastian (although in a more advanced class, as he's a bit older). His mother was giving out treats, and recognized Sebastian.

It was on the late side, and the fifth and sixth houses we tried seemed to be closed - they didn't respond to the doorbells - so we called it a night. All in all, it was a pretty good time, and we didn't push Sebastian overmuch to visit lots of houses.

A couple of random notes:

On the way home, the streets were PACKED with costumed kids. We saw one girl in an absolutely beautiful fairy costume, with huge butterfly wings. Magical.

This is totally unrelated to Halloween, but the night before, as I was taking out the trash, I heard a lone goose honking high up in the sky. I looked up at the autumn moon, but didn't see anything. Weird things seem to happen every Monday night, when I take out the trash. For example, I startled a pair of opossums twice last month in the back yard.

Halloween 2006

I need to thank stairflight for reminding me to post about our Halloween.

Sebastian dressed as Willy Wonka. He's been wearing that costume for two months now, ever since Teri's mother bought it for him. He looks ridiculously cute in it. I do find it annoying that the hat is nothing like the hat in either movie; it's not a top hat, more a...I don't know. He looks a little like a leprechaun when he wears it, though.

There was no cane with the costume, which was also a shortcoming. Sebastian appropriated a long dowel from the back of my Morris chair, but I wouldn't let him take it out of the house - that chair is something of a family heirloom.

Anyway, Halloween was a busy night. Sebastian had gone on the train with me that morning to - whoa! Let's back up.

I can't believe I didn't post this already, but on Sunday morning we went out to Cracker Barrel for breakfast. Teri had a yen for grits, as she often does. Sebastian didn't want to go, and I'll admit that I'm getting a bit sick of Cracker Barrel myself (plus we really shouldn't be spending the money), but Teri would not be dissuaded.

When we got there the place was packed, and we were told there was a 25-minute wait. So we circulated in the store. A few minutes later, though, two people came in wearing incredibly scary rubber masks. One was a demonic black skull with long black hair, and the other was a demonic white skull with long white hair. As soon as Sebastian saw them, he totally freaked out. He screamed, cried, and begged to go home. He said he needed to go to the bathroom to throw up, and when I took him in there, he went to the toilet and tried, desperately but unsuccessfully, to puke.

(Fortunately he doesn't know about sticking his fingers down his throat. And he hasn't yet manifested the Maranci ability to vomit at will. Yeah, I can do that - deliberately reverse peristalsis. But I don't like to.)

It was very embarrassing, and I really felt for my little guy; he begged and pleaded for us to take him home, tears pouring down his face. But we stayed, and tried to keep away from that damned couple. We found out that they were grandparents, and regular customers. The man took his mask off, but the woman didn't. Were they aware that they were scaring the shit out of a five-year-old? I don't know, but I doubt it. We stayed as far away from them as possible, and there was a pretty high noise level in the place.

Anyway, we were eventually seated, but Sebastian didn't get any calmer. He clung to me and wept uncontrollably, making a huge scene. Finally Teri told the waitress to pack up our order to go. We left a generous tip.

Ironically, when we got home we found that they'd forgotten to pack Teri's grits.

Anyway, as you can see my little guy has a big fear of scary costumes. That dates back to last Halloween, when a 20-year-old idiot wearing an incredibly scary costume jumped out from behind some bushes right into Sebastian's face.

Okay, now we can move back (forward) to last Tuesday, October 31st. Sebastian and I took the train to Boston. Just before we got on the train it crossed my mind that there might be one or more people on the train wearing costumes. I very stupidly said so, and of course Sebastian started to get scared. Teri said she didn't think anyone would wear a scary costume to work, though, and that she didn't think we'd have any problem. Sebastian still didn't want to go on the train, but it was really too late to change our plans - Teri had to go to work, after all - so we talked him into it.

Sometimes when you're a parent you have to do things that you'd really rather not do.

Inevitably, at the very next stop someone came on wearing a demonic black skull mask and wearing a black Grim Reaper's cloak and hood. He came in on the opposite end of the train, and sat down on the end but on our side, facing us; we had a perfect unobstructed view of him. Fortunately Sebastian didn't see him, and I spent the next hour in a frantic attempt to make sure that Sebastian DIDN'T see him.

I succeeded. 'Nuff said.

Sebastian spent the day at the Children's Museum in Boston with my parents. When I finished work, they brought him over and he and I took the train to Franklin. Teri met us at the station and we went to his final swimming lesson. There are three other kids in his class, all of them girls, but this time something I suspected and hoped would happen, did: none of the other kids showed up. So Sebastian got a private lesson for the whole half hour, and had a lot of fun.

He's pretty good in the pool. There's one girl who's a lot better than him, but Sebastian goes under water pretty well, kicks his legs well, and isn't overly afraid of the water. He does have a problem holding his breath for a long time, but that's something we'll keep working on. We should also get him in the pool more often; maybe we'll take him to family swim at the gym on the weekends.

Incidentally, I think we'll be signing him up for more swimming classes later this month.

Anyway, once the lesson was over we took him to the house of a friend of Teri's mother for trick or treating. He was already very nervous, though pleased to be wearing his Willy Wonka outfit; he also had a King Cobra mask that my parents had bought for him at the museum, but he decided not to wear that (except for a little while on the train).

The night was warm and lovely; you couldn't ask for nicer weather.

Once we got to the neighborhood, though, the nervousness kicked in again. We only went to three or four houses; one of them, by a very odd coincidence, was the house of a boy who takes swimming lessons at the same time as Sebastian (although in a more advanced class, as he's a bit older). His mother was giving out treats, and recognized Sebastian.

It was on the late side, and the fifth and sixth houses we tried seemed to be closed - they didn't respond to the doorbells - so we called it a night. All in all, it was a pretty good time, and we didn't push Sebastian overmuch to visit lots of houses.

A couple of random notes:

On the way home, the streets were PACKED with costumed kids. We saw one girl in an absolutely beautiful fairy costume, with huge butterfly wings. Magical.

This is totally unrelated to Halloween, but the night before, as I was taking out the trash, I heard a lone goose honking high up in the sky. I looked up at the autumn moon, but didn't see anything. Weird things seem to happen every Monday night, when I take out the trash. For example, I startled a pair of opossums twice last month in the back yard.