On Hallowe’en night, I opened the door to a little bear, maybe 4 years old. His mom gently prompted him “What do you say?”
Which resulted in the ensuing conversation:
Bear: WHAT’S YOUR NAME?
Me: My name’s Mary. What’s your name?
Bear: <moving on with the interrogation. He’s asking the questions here…> What are these chairs for?
Me: Well, when the weather is a little warmer than it is right now, I sometimes sit out here and read. This (gesturing to the single wicker chair) is where my husband sits. And this (gesturing to the wicker loveseat) is where I sit. I get the big chair.
Bear: Well, I like your chairs (climbing up onto the loveseat)
Me: Thanks!
Bear’s mom: Honey, what do you say?
Bear: CAN I HAVE SOME CANDY!?
Me: You sure can!
Bear’s mom: That’s not… what… He’s chatty about everything, but doesn’t get the trick or treat part
ME: That’s OK, he’s kind of making my night here…
Bear: TRICK OR TREAT! THANKS!
Overheard as he got back to the sidewalk where his dad was waiting:
Bear: I like Mary. And those chairs.
Well thanks, L’il Bear!
So what else is there to be thankful for?
- Enough kids for me to see Wednesday Addams, Teenytiny Swat Team members, requisite zombies of various stripes, a banana, and several families dressed up in Winnie the Pooh characters (including a very small, very cute Roo). Semirelated: Few enough kids that we also had some candy (but not too much candy) left for our nefarious household carbohydrate purposes.
- The bright leaves on the trees (and on the ground, in their time)
- Pumpkin seeds, fresh from the pumpkin and roasted in a way that makes my house smell delicious, and provides my favourite snack of the fall offerings.
- Minor Hockey. Sure, Child played for 12 years or so, and I’ve spent lots of time in arenas along the way. This weekend, my gentleman associate and I went to see our nephew defend the pipes. I mean, mandatory masks in the stands kinda contraindicates arena fries (or hot chocolate from Tim Horton’s for that matter). Yeah, hockey is pretty great no matter what level of players you’re watching.
Have a good week, friends.
Sweary Parent Chronicles 
What a charming little bear! I enjoy reading about your enjoyment of Halloween. I fear that we overestimated on how much candy we’d give out, so I was throwing huge handfuls into bags as the evening wore on. We used to have a huge spider made of pillows, foam pvc pipe, tinfoil (for eyes) and we would lower it from a tree by the front door as soon as someone knocked. We haven’t done it lately. One trick or treater told me, “I remember that spider you used to have. That thing was cool!”
“Well,” I said, “maybe we’ll do it again next year.”
“Ha!” said the child. “You’ve been saying that for the last five years!”
Out of the mouths of babes, for sure. Maybe we really will set it up next year.
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Love it. That spider does sound cool!
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