Halloween 2017

Ever since Ryan began openly communicating about 2.5 years ago, he has been able to pick out his costume.  Imagine if you didn’t know what your child wanted to be for Halloween for the first 9 years of their life (okay for the first few we get to dress them up in what we want them to be!)  It has been amazing to find out how much Ryan loves Halloween and that he loves dressing up.  Since he was able to pick out his costume, each year, he has wanted to do something scary.  Two years ago, he was a “SCARY GOBLIN” and last year he was a “ZOMBIE WITH GUTS”.  This year we took him to Party City and he picked out a “ZOMBIE BUSINESSMAN.”

We have only recently relaxed Ryan’s diet as with the open communication, came the desire to be like everyone else and not have a restricted diet.  We do notice that too much sugar and artificial colors do make him hyperactive, but his stomach issues have been okay, so we allow him to indulge on occasion.  The past two years he has been able to eat candy so he has enjoyed trick or treating.

This year, Ryan did amazing.  He carried his own pumpkin bucket the entire time and walked with us (and Freckles) and did not ask to go home early.

We went to 24 houses (I made 30 Business Cards to hand out at the houses and we had 6 left, so Go Math!)

As soon as we walked in the door at home, he immediately tried to take off his costume and motioned for me to help him.  I kind of compare this to his bike helmet.  He doesn’t like wearing a helmet, but he knows that it is necessary so he does it, but the second we get into the garage after the bike ride, he is pulling on the strap and coming up to me to take it off.  The same thing with the costume, he did not like the feeling of it, but he knew that it was cool and necessary, so he tolerated it until we got home.

Here is what Ryan had to say about some of the various things about Halloween.

On wearing zombie makeup:  HAPPY TO DO TOO MUCH SCARY MAKEUP.  REALLY HARD TO STAY STILL BUT IT WAS WORTH IT.

On holding his bucket:  FELT REALLY HEAVY BY THE END OF THE NIGHT.

On handing out cards in lieu of saying Trick or Treat:  I LIKED THE CARDS.

On trying to go into people’s houses (he only did this twice this year but in previous years this was a constant issue and even though he knows not to do it, he couldn’t help it.)  I AM TOO LOVING TO LOOK INTO OTHERS’ HOUSES.  I FIND IT INTERESTING TO SEE HOW OTHERS LIVE.  Side note–Apparently there are a lot of autistic kids who try and go into the houses on halloween as plenty of other parents I know have similar stories.

On tolerating the costume:  LEARNING THAT SOMETIMES IT IS WORTH IT TO BE UNCOMFORTABLE IN ORDER TO EXPERIENCE COOL THINGS.

On his epic amount of candy:  I NOW DECLARE CANDY TO BE DRUG OF CHOICE.  I  was like, “Um okay.” REALLY TRYING TO BE FUNNY.  I said to him, “You know, Grace just finished Red Ribbon Week at School and it is all about saying no to drugs.  So I guess you are saying no to candy?”  NO WAY.  CANDY RULES.

Last thoughts about Halloween:

REALLY PROUD OF MYSELF.  TOTALLY AMAZING HALLOWEEN.