I’d forgotten how much fun Halloween could be! But thanks to Camille, I get to enjoy so many things all over again – not just the trick-or-treating part, but the pumpkins and decorations and all the fall festivals, too.

Yesterday, Camille and I picked pumpkins at a local pumpkin patch. She was quite excited about the idea, and as we were getting dressed to go, she quickly informed me that she wanted a pink one. When I told her they didn’t have any pink ones, she revised her request. “I want a little one, mama!”

Ta-da!

She got her little pumpkin, and I picked out a larger one for our front porch. I think she was pretty excited about the whole thing.

Pumpkins are all fun and good, however, Camille has been much less enthusiastic about some of the darker aspects of Halloween. I got her costume at a local party store, and took her with me to pick it out so I could try it on her first. But I didn’t consider the in-store Halloween decorations. As soon as we walked in the door, she wrapped herself so tightly around me and started saying, “No. No. No. No. Camille got scared!” There were all sorts of ghoulish creatures posed throughout the store. I realized I was in over my head when she pointed to a devil with red glowing eyes and asked, “This, Mama? This?” I wasn’t ready for a conversation about devils, so I just said it was a pretend monster and moved quickly past it.

Now, she quite regularly tells us she’s scared of practically any and every Halloween decoration other than pumpkins. I can’t decide if she’s really scared, or just enjoys the attention, but I keep trying to explain to her that they’re not real. “Not real. Just pretend,” she repeats.

Apparently, this is happening at school too. One of her teachers told me today that any time they do a Halloween activity, she has to take Camille into a different room because she says she’s scared.

Tomorrow morning, I hope to help her to re-focus on some of the fun parts of the season when we go to a fall festival complete with pony rides and a train. Then in the afternoon, she gets to wear her costume for the first time when we go to Oatland Island’s Halloween Hike. Busy day – bring it on!