It’s the morning after Halloween, and I have discovered something about myself: I have no willpower over cheesies. Right now I have orange powder on all my fingers and orangey goo between my teeth. If this were an episode of CSI, they could just skip all that lab stuff and go straight to the part where someone is looking down their nose at me with a superior tut-tut.
Sorry kids, you’re just going to have to make do with the mountains of chips around here instead.
On Saturday there was an unexpected and unusual snowfall. I did lots of Managing of Expectations and told the kids it wouldn’t stay on the ground, but Mother Nature screwed me over and by late afternoon there was a good four inches on the ground. The kids could not wait to get outside and roll around in it, throw it at each other, and shove it down each others’ shirts. They came inside wet, cold, and with eyes shining with joy. Early winter is always so full of promise, I can almost ignore the looming horror of February and March.
On my way to bed I noticed that it was so much lighter out of all the windows than usual. It turns out that the white, bright snow reflects all the electric lights around and makes everything sort of shiny. How is it I have never noticed this, after 40 years of first snowfalls? It’s nice to know that I still have things to discover about this world.
There’s nothing like a first snowfall of the year to lead you to discover that one kid has no coat, another kid has no boots, and no one has any snow pants. We spent all of Halloween day at the mall – a four hour epic journey of dehydration and complaining. At any given time, at least two family members were close to passing out. Luckily the others would rally to their aid, only to cash in their chips a half hour later when they hit their own wall.
There were approximately a million trick-or-treaters at the mall and we had to fight our way through unbelievable crowds, all wearing costumes and hopped up on sugar and doing the Monster Mash, only to discover that we were late to the snow-gear party and there were almost no sizes left anywhere. We snapped up what we could and in the end everyone walked away with suitable outwear but I am not exaggerating one bit when I say it almost killed us all.
Luckily there was candy to look forward to and once we were home, the kids quickly bounced back. One Harry Potter, one Little Red Riding Hood, and one white kitten (officially Marie, the white kitten from the movie Aristocats) could not wait to get outside. Having to run through snow to get from house to house only helped turn it into the “best day ever,” according to the Harry Potter. We cut them off when we had a backpack full of candy.
In retrospect, we should have taken a second pass at the houses that were handing out cheesies.
TurtleHead 
When I saw the title of the post in my inbox, I had to laugh. Last night was Cole’s first Hallowe’en. Although we didn’t really take him trick-or-treating, we walked around with him in costume so that he could see the other kids and some of the houses that were done up. Needless to say, people forced treats into our pockets (we didn’t even bring a bag!).
Getting to the point: one of the treats was a bag of the soft Chee-tos. We gave it to him. And he freakin’ LOVED it. “MMM!” he said as he ate some. “MMMM!” and at the end of the bag, “DEN?” (meaning “Again?” or… “Can I have another bag??”)
Also, re: the snowfall– we quickly discovered that his “Magic Mitts” are not much proof against cold when he keeps putting his hands directly into the snow!! Emergency mitten shopping…
You’ll be so jealous when I tell you that Hana doesn’t actually like Cheesies! Woohoo! Score one for me!
I’ve managed to mess up the winter apparel supplies, too. This morning we went to put Hana into last years’ coat, which I’d convinced myself would still fit her, only to find the sleeves were about two inches too short. I made a quick trip to the mall this afternoon to try to find a jacket for her. There were lots that were a size or two too small, and lots a size or two too big. There were almost none size 7/8, and a bunch of them were out of the running because Hana has suddenly declared herself to be so over the colour pink. Luckily I found one nice purple jacket that was in her size…and miracle of miracles, she likes it!
My daughters and I were arguing this evening about which one of us was the MASTER of cheesies (I totally am). Unfortunately my girls are too big for me to get away with stealing their cheesies out of their bags while they are sleeping 😦
My daughters were also both Marie at one Hallowe’en or another – so cute!!
Sounds tiring!
I look cheesy-type snacks too! And Smartfood is better than chips right?
What — isn’t it a recognized tradition that you don’t buy your kids winter boots until at least one day after they desperately need them? I thought I was upholding the ritual, people!
My kids used to jones for cheesies, but we’re all kind of over them now. I know, it’s weird. Except I have this OCD hand-washing thing. so it’s cheesies or skin on my hands.
I have no control when it comes to salty snack foods. I cannot have them within a thirty foot radius of me. I cannot buy them because I will surely consume them before even getting the groceries out of the car. My biggest weakness? Ketchup chips. Nothing like red-stained fingers for incriminating evidence.