This week, the Carleton Heights Child Care Centre put on its Annual General Assembly, which includes a children's variety show. Sam was cute as a button in his technicolour clown wig and big red nose, up there singing "Get Your Sillies Out" and "Singing in the Rain." It's not often one sees Sam in a goofy costume: his tastes run more to vampires and Batman. It didn't surprise me, later, to note that Sam's profile in the large "About Me" art display listed black as his favourite colour. "It's the spookiest," he declared. He's a big fan of spooky.
This year, he trick-or-treated as The Gatekeeper, a slightly demonic skeletal 
figure that stalks graveyards. The bloodcurdling mask was the main attraction. His buddy, Connor, on the contrary, was tricked out as an adorable purple dinosaur, his cherubic face and blond curls smiling out from the hole where the dinosaur's mouth would be. Sam was unimpressed. As self-appointed costume judge, he spent a good deal of his candy rounds quietly condemning of all those cutesy costumes. "Not spooky, not spooky, not spooky..." I could hear him whispering, as the Cat in the Hat, a princess, and a large M&M passed by him on the street. It's All Hallows Eve, people! Bring on the ghosts and goblins: this ain't no Dora and Diego holiday.
figure that stalks graveyards. The bloodcurdling mask was the main attraction. His buddy, Connor, on the contrary, was tricked out as an adorable purple dinosaur, his cherubic face and blond curls smiling out from the hole where the dinosaur's mouth would be. Sam was unimpressed. As self-appointed costume judge, he spent a good deal of his candy rounds quietly condemning of all those cutesy costumes. "Not spooky, not spooky, not spooky..." I could hear him whispering, as the Cat in the Hat, a princess, and a large M&M passed by him on the street. It's All Hallows Eve, people! Bring on the ghosts and goblins: this ain't no Dora and Diego holiday. It's been a long-standing tradition, actually. He dressed as a vampire last year and a pirate the 
year before that (costumes he resurrected this year to attend no-mask Halloween parties at school and at the Yates'). It's a little funny to me, still, to see him play with the Bad Guy persona, since he's nothing but cute and soft-hearted. No matter how much he screws up his face into what he believes is a look of madness, his playful eyes and chubby cheeks give him away. Perhaps it's because I can still see my baby in that face—a baby we dressed like a lil' devil for his first Halloween (hmmm...). He doesn't look like a demon seed, but we've certainly spawned a child who is thrilled to dabble on a cartoon version of The Dark Side.
year before that (costumes he resurrected this year to attend no-mask Halloween parties at school and at the Yates'). It's a little funny to me, still, to see him play with the Bad Guy persona, since he's nothing but cute and soft-hearted. No matter how much he screws up his face into what he believes is a look of madness, his playful eyes and chubby cheeks give him away. Perhaps it's because I can still see my baby in that face—a baby we dressed like a lil' devil for his first Halloween (hmmm...). He doesn't look like a demon seed, but we've certainly spawned a child who is thrilled to dabble on a cartoon version of The Dark Side. 
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