Happy to be Sharing Halloween with my Son, Thanks to the Gift of Adoption

Halloween is my favorite holiday. Now, thanks to open adoption, I get to spend Halloween with my son. He’s a wild toddler and somehow I have already instilled my love for the holiday in him. He has several Halloween books and loves pointing out zombies, witches, and ghosts. He runs around like a monster trying to scare Dada and me. He’s not afraid of the mummy decoration we put in our window. Then obviously, there’s the candy.

People usually think of the family time and “the holidays” in December, but I think October is just as good. The weather is more conducive to outside activities for the kids like pumpkin painting and corn mazes. Our area has so many fall festivals that we are booked solid every weekend the entire month. Yesterday, we went to our adoption agency’s picnic and a fall carnival. Next weekend, we will be going to a pumpkin carving and lighting event with our son’s birth aunt and cousins.

About three years before our son was born, I was in a store and passed by some baby Halloween clothing. I bought a little pumpkin jacket. I thought I was being totally silly, but possibly I could use it one day for a little one. That jacket sat in our guest room (now baby’s room) closet for those three years. The Halloween after he was born, I pulled it out and realized it was a one year size. He was four months old. I think I took a picture of him in it anyway but didn’t make him wear it out. That night he was a teddy bear for his trick or treating costume- me and Dada’s teddy bear. We went as babies. It was my first time wearing a not-so-revealing costume, and it was super comfy. We wore sleepers and had pacifiers, which our son kept trying to get out of our mouths, even though he had his own.

The next Halloween, he was sixteen months old and the pumpkin jacket fit well enough for him to wear to the grocery store with me. I thought he was the cutest little pumpkin in town. That night we went out as Sesame Street characters (Elmo, Cookie Monster, and Abby Cadabby.) He would walk around a little bit to trick or treat, but got scared at some of the other older kids’ costumes, so we mostly passed out candy again.

This year, we are going to be a family circus and he is super pumped about his lion costume. I think we may actually get around the entire block this year to trick or treat. His two-year-old energy will not be contained. I’m so thankful to be spending Halloween as a family of three now, and I hope your adoption journey will result in many memorable holiday events as well.