it's the great letdown, charlie brown

The kids hopped off the bus yesterday and slapped on their costume apparel.


halloween 2007


We were headed to Sauvieland, a pumpkin patch, sure to be the hit it was last year. Right? RIGHT? Enter the ominous music; it was a bummer.


this picture makes it worth the drive to Sauvie Island


Sure we had a good time. The kids looked great and went on a ride around the property, pulled by a tractor.


hannah mootana


space cowboy


And I snapped their picture with the pumpkins, something I do every year.


wee bit cold


But it just didn't live up to the expectations of our cast and crew.

{Personal disappointment + hungry crying boy + preteen drama queen crying girl = Wavering Sanity.}

Finally I pulled the ripcord - I directed the sobbing children to the car, tromping through the mud, having those icky Motherhood feelings that made me come thisclose to shouting:




(Not so pretty or proud.)


But instead, I turned up the radio, some White Stripes to drown out the disappointed throng. Once I realized, 10 miles later, that Lexi may be somewhat sane again, I turned down the radio and she told me it had been so fabulous last year, so perfect, that it just really hurt her heart (oh yes, she's definitely mine) that it wasn't as good this year. That the hay ride closed early. That her friends weren't around. Soon the sadness gave way to a lesson in low expectations, my personal philosophy for getting through the holidays ahead.

They both dried their eyes and I told them I was so hungry I was gnawing on my arm. They chuckled and soon we were playing the 'gnawing on appendages game' until I found a place to fill empty tummies along the I-5.

I sure hope Halloween proper is a little less stressful. My expectations have been lowered accordingly...


(Here's our Sauvieland pictures from 2006)

Comments

Anonymous said…
You don't look nearly as mean as I think I look when yelling at my kids. Great picture.

Good job of talking yourself off the ledge. Stephanie saved The Boy from a yelling at last night after he continuously asked us to turn our movie down (which was already at whisper level).

Here is to a more satisfying candy gathering joyfulness on Wed. Please send any tips on Pre-Teen Girl, ours is coming soon...

-Stu
Beck said…
EVERY. SINGLE. OUTING. we go on with our kids ends like that.
And yet we still go on outings. Because we are insane.
CamiKaos said…
I hate that feeling. Hate it. You try to do something nice, something fun and instead of being rewarded with family fun you are punished with wild tantrums or insert the problem with your kids here...

It makes me feel like I failed at something and I hate it.

I hope Halloween is a lot more fun than the pumpkin patch was!
Mrs. G. said…
Oh yes...magic times. This was faintly reminiscent of that dismal evening known as Prom Night...at least you got pumpkins.
katydidnot said…
but you looked really, really good in your cute red hat, so it's all okay.
Amy said…
I hate it when the big super fun time becomes a big super sucky suck fest. Sounds like you salvaged the evening. Hope tomorrow is better!
Anonymous said…
I give you massive Brownie points for even going; I'm a big lazy (bad mom) baby - I can barely handle trick-or-treating (I just know the deceptive sunny days are going to give way to the traditional subzero windy Halloween night).

Let's go around our neighborhood together to take some of the crazy out of the chore - we can either make a good time of it or yell in unison.
Kelly said…
I think you've tapped into some universal aspect of parenthood here.

The pics are great, though man, I get that frustration, totally.
natalie said…
good on you for even going. we decided to stay home and not brave it....

one of our favorite memories of last year was getting to play with lexi and zack.
Daisy said…
HA! Ok, that graphic was the funniest thing. I have SO been there. Isn't like us to just have unreasonable expectations that everything be just PERFECT? and then we're disappointed when it's not (understandably so). I have this problem bigtime. I seriously need to stop subscribing to Martha Stewart Kids, PotteryBarn, Sunset, etc.
lapoflux said…
Love the picture - you look almost scary.

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