2016...A NEW Halloween Era Begins

Back in June, I posted this conversation between G and R on Facebook:

R: My birthday is finished.
G: Yes it's finished.
R: It's too early for Christmas.
G: Yes it is. When can you start your Christmas list?
R: I don't know.
G: How about October?
R: NO. That's Halloween.
G: Are you going to dress up as a pirate again?
R: No.
G: What are you going to dress up as?
R: Princess Peach.
G: Oh. Why don't you dress up as Mario??

R: NO! Princess Peach!!

G: But Princess Peach is a girl.
R: I WANT TO!!

This past Thursday was Riley’s Special O’s Bowling Halloween Night. R was over the moon to wear his new-found costume. I posted this pic on Facebook. That dress?? Ummmm...yea. My high school grad dress. Yes I kept it. Yes I know that was *cough* 38 *cough* years ago. Not sure which is more disturbing...the fact that I kept it all these years or the fact that Riley fits into it without any alterations...to the length or chest area. Oi.

Thanks to everyone for all the positive comments!  Many were also commending me for being such a good mom and how awesome I must be to let R dress up as Princess Peach. Trust me. I’m not. A good mom that is. Awesome? Perhaps just a little.  ;)

Here’s the thing…it was also brought to my attention that R has actually been pining to be Princess Peach since he was about 14. Yea. 8 years. See. Not so awesome. However…to be fair, this was the first year he has actually insisted on being Princess Peach. For the other 7 years, he has been happy as a pirate. Really.

And if there’s ever any doubt about whether or not I made the right decision letting Riley dress up as Princess Peach…all I have to do is look at this face. 

Happy Halloween from Riley World!!!

"Joy To the World"

Do you remember the first concert you ever went to?? 

Mine was Three Dog Night.  Yes.  I'm THAT old.  

Joy to the World indeed.

I can’t remember how old I was (early teens?!?) but I do remember getting shoved and pushed and praying I wouldn’t get separated from my friends because the chances of ever running into them again…slim to none. There were no reserved seats. It was a free for all. Pot-smoking, cigarette-smoking and who knows what else people were smoking…were right out in the open. And by the time the concert was over, there was a smoke cloud from floor to ceiling. I can even remember the ringing in my ears afterwards…pretty sure I suffered some hearing loss too. Ahhhh…the good ol’ days.  :P

Now Riley can be very sensitive to sound. VERY sensitive.

When R first started school, he could not tolerate the noise of a school assembly. 300+ students/teachers in an echoey gym??  Nope. Wasn’t going to happen. 

So our Fairy Godmother had the daunting task of easing Riley into a cacophony of excitable children laughing, talking and settling into place. She knew how severe his sensitivity was to sound and came up with strategies that would enable Riley to gradually sit alongside his class mates.

One of her strategies was headphones. But because noise-cancelling headphones were not readily available…she improvised. I like to refer to those days as the “Princess Leia” era. 

She found a pair of over-sized headphones (imagine industrial size headphones) and cut off the cord. The first time I saw Riley walk into the gym…I was ummmm…perplexed. You see…I was still at the “I want my child to ‘blend’ in as much as possible stage” and those headphones??  Well…let’s just say R definitely did NOT blend in. But…with the prequel trilogy having been released around that time…"I" persevered. 

And here we are over 15 years later. Attempting a music concert of all things, in an arena large enough to hold 18,000 people!!  WTH was I thinking?????

This. This is what I was thinking…

Yup...that's R's bigger brother J1 playing the guitar. 

G recently bought a pair of noise-cancelling headphones so we decided what better time to give them a try with Riley. 

I think R may have even managed to look up from watching Madagascar on his iTouch to catch a glimpse of J1 on the big screen. He didn’t last much longer after the intermission but I’m still calling this a HUGE win!!!  

What was your first concert???  Help me out here...let's hear from the pre-2000 crowd at the very least.