A Halloween Case Study on Georgia's Temperament

The morning of Halloween we went to a children's costume parade and party. As you may or may not know, Georgia can be a, shall we say...sensitive little flower. Normally loud, cheerful, and silly, she gets quite reserved in new situations or around new people, and on top of that, she is in a phase of pretty much freaking out at the thought of me leaving her side. As in, she sometimes cries when I walk down the hall to grab the phone or go to the bathroom. "I SEE MOMMY!" means, "Mommy, pick me up!" and its a common refrain. (I should add - this isn't a mommy thing, either. "I SEE DADDY!" works just as well or better for her.) It's all part of the challenges of being 2 that we're dealing with, but anyway, on to the Halloween stuff, because I think these pictures illustrate how well Georgia eventually warms up to a crowd. It's just that it takes about an hour or an hour and a half. (Beth has suggested that we somehow start showing up everywhere an hour early. Hmmmm...hard to do with parties.)

1) Despite the look on her face, she is excited about the costume parade. (Which, by the way, involves walking to the end of Beth's block, crossing the street, and walking back up the other side of the block.) Several people. Many of them strangers. She's game as long as mom is within arm's reach.



2) She trips on the sidewalk. Tears ensue, but recovery is quick. (Perhaps the apple cart has been irretrievably upset, though? See #3.)


3) We reach the end of the block. "Georgia, want to be in a photo with your cousins and aunt?" HYSTERIA. Water works. She cranks it to the appropriate her one and only level of expressing anxiety, fear, sadness, anger, or even mild displeasure: ELEVEN.


4) More tears as an overzealous hugging of her friend Harry accidentally turns into a full body, Fighfighter/Kermit slam. The post-parade party is starting, but we take a break by ourselves at Aunt Beth's house so that I can feed June. Georgia snacks, regroups, and completely relaxes.

I know it may be tempting based on this evidence to say that snacks are the key, but believe me, that kid is noshing all the time and we make sure to keep her blood sugar up.

5) Go to party. I am not so stupid as to force her to partake in any of the crafts or games at this point. She's overwhelmed by the loud music and all of the people. But happy to be there -- so long as she's in my arms.

6) We find a seat. A dance instructor is teaching children the Monster Mash. Georgia is perfectly content to perform her Monster Mash from a seated position, while eating grapes. Who needs a dance floor?




7) Getting braver. She's wandering off on her own, over by the punch bowl doing who knows what.


8) Too brave! She's hiding from me under a table, and I catch her eating things she found on the floor. (BTW, this is an allergy mom's nightmare.) Fortunately, it was just a stray grape in this case.


9) Ahh..the party is ending, so now she wants to take to the dance floor. A solo act, perhaps? Notice how thrilled she is with her favors: a new silver plastic skull ring with red eyes, and a little stuffed doggie.


10) Time to walk back to the car. She's running by herself and thinks it's funny to trail WAY behind June and me.


Oh, let's take a closer look at that one. So cute!


There you have it!