And so it begins...

This year, we did not do a big Halloween party. "Why?" you ask, echoing the plaintive cries of our children. Well, the truth is that we were all tired and too overwhelmed to plan one. Instead, we promised to take the kids to the Afton Corn Maze and have a little costume party afterwards and watch a movie. On Saturday morning, we all - 6 adults and 8 children - headed to the corn maze. I shouldn't really call them "children" so much as "little dictators who were certain that their chosen direction would lead us out of the maze". Fortunately, it was an absolutely stunning day for wandering around in the corn listening to children say, "NO! This way!" only to find that your group was a) at a dead end or b) going in circles. Maria Montessori advised that you "follow the child" but (as I pointed out on Twitter) Maria was obviously never lost in a corn maze with a group of the little imps. While the children "guided" us around, the adults had fun with corn silk. A little advice - don't put corn silk down your pants. Trust me.

We did eventually find our way out of the maze through blind luck.

We then headed home to get our kids into their costumes for the little party. I was tired from 12 days of single parenting and shucking corn and making corn puns and all the corn silk fun so I wasn't that excited to be going to a costume party with 9 kids hopped up on fudge. I made the fudge and, now that I think about it, I should have laced it with Valium. Hindsight...sigh. It was in this weakened state that I returned home to find that the kitten had vomited all over the family room. On rugs. On floors. On the litter box. I wanted to weep but I didn't have time because Miguel was all, "MOM WE'RE GONNA BE LATE FOR THE PARTY. WHAT TIME IS IT WHAT TIME IS IT WHAT TIME IS IT?!" I cleaned it all up to the best of my ability and then took him to a friend's house where he and Zeca got ready. I then returned home to a) more thoroughly clean the kitten vomit b) check on the kitten c) pick up the movie that I had forgotten and d) have a shot of bourbon.

When we finally arrived at the party, I felt that I had accomplished something monumental like climbing Everest or building a sea worthy sailboat out of Peeps and licorice. You know how people say that you are supposed to enjoy the journey and all that? Well, on Saturday, part of the journey sucked and the only thing worthwhile was the destination.