Ferdinand. Coco. The Lego Movie. Frozen (at the outset). The list of movies that Junebug, age 4, has found fear-inducing is long and, at times, surprising. Even more surprising is the one movie we thought would terrify her but which she instead found delightful: The Nightmare Before Christmas. We watched it on the big screen at an outdoor movie night with some friends a week ago as a precursor to Halloween, and Junebug found the entire experience utterly delightful. We joined the same friends last weekend to celebrate the holiday in earnest.
In childhood, everything is a phase, as we discovered with Munchkin. With Junebug, we discovered that each phase can last a small eternity. Despite our best attempts, Junebug still hasn't given up her binkie. She is still supremely sweet and snuggly, holding on for dear life and telling us how much she'll miss us every evening at bedtime. She still gives S hell at every opportunity. S thought naively that this phase might fade at some point after Junebug's toddler years and that she'd enjoy a bit of a break before puberty hit, but no dice so far. And Junebug still loves all things Frozen, as was evident in her costume choice. She has various princess dresses in which she loves to dress up, but when push came to shove, she went with one of her Frozen ones.
Munchkin loved to dress up when he was younger but is quickly reaching the age at which kids embrace the transactional nature of Halloween and dispense with costumes. Last year, when the Halloween festivities were muted because of COVID, Munchkin simply wore his soccer uniform as a costume. This year, he tried a little harder, paying an homage to his obsession with Pokemon.
Junebug typically has a stellar memory, surprising us with her detailed recall of people, events, and places we've lived. The only area where her memory seems faulty is with regards to holidays and celebrations. She only ever remembers her most recent birthday, for example (she's already planning her "second birthday party" after celebrating turning four this summer). Munchkin's memory, on the other hand, has always been spotty. He had no recollection of C, our friends' daughter, who was his bestie in Rwanda. It's been really fun watching them reconnect and develop a new friendship completely independent of their earlier playtime.
C's brother wasn't in the picture when we left Rwanda three years ago, but there's no question that he won Halloween. D took more photos of him than of our two kids combined.
The evening was a total success, as you can see. Here's the all-important examination and trading of the loot during which the kids consumed enough candy to fuel several hours of sugar-high insanity while the adults crowded around a fire pit and prayed that the kids would burn off enough excess energy to sleep peacefully when night fell.
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