Tricks for treats...

Well she did it! Scarlett put on a costume and had a blast on her first true Halloween night of trick-or-treating! Whew! It came down to the wire really. But she did it herself with little coaxing attempts from mom and dad.

In a recent post I explained how Scarlett was flat-out refusing to wear any form of costume. Sure, she told everyone we came in contact with that she was going to be Mickey Mouse for Halloween but when it came down to it she had no intention of wearing those red pants or that headband. Tantrums were thrown, fits ensued. We finally dropped the issue, switched gears and took a more subtle approach - thanks to a few helpful ideas from our Facebook friends.

In her dress-up box that Grandma made for her birthday was a Minnie Mouse costume. Thinking that could be a last minute option we laid the groundwork. I randomly wore her Minnie ears. Gregg hung the sparkly Minnie dress in her room. We made comments like, "Oh look how cute these ears look on your bunny! Maybe we will take the bunny out trick-or-treating since he loves them so much!" Scarlett gave us the stink eye, showing her disapproval. Gregg began giving her lessons on trick-or-treating by closing the doors upstairs and handing her a pail. They walked down the hallway and knocked on the doors saying, "TRICK OR TREAT!! HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!" and (when wooden blocks were placed in her pail) "Thank Youuuu" - she LOVED it. Playing peek-a-boo was Gregg's idea - we threw her dress over her head saying, "Where's Scarlett???" and before you know it we were just inches away from getting that dress all the way on. Each afternoon I wore the Minnie ears for a while and then left them on the floor alongside Scarlett's toys. One evening I looked over and saw her trying to put them on, then wearing them around her neck. Masking my excitement, I casually said, "Oh do you want some help, let me help you put those on" and Presto! Minnie was born. That same night Gregg asked if she wanted to wear her dress and practice trick-or-treating in the hallway again. BAM! SUCCESS! She was ready. Awesome.

We only knocked on a small block's worth of doors but Scarlett loved every minute of it. "Let's do another one!" She chanted, dragging along her heavy bucket of goodies. She really had a great time - and so did we. She even had her very first lollipop.