Trying on the Hat...
Trying on the Hat…

It’s raining, it’s getting cold and you are crashing from your Halloween candies sugar high?

I have a perfect fix for you–a good dose of cute.

You have to (kind of) like kids, though. If you don’t (and I respect that!), you may leave now and go search for “hot girls”, “hot guys” or “cute puppy” on Google—no worries.

Halloween wasn’t much fun last year. Mark was only two weeks old and I spent the evening upstairs, in the bedroom with him, trying to put him to sleep as Feng was dealing with trick-or-treaters downstairs.

I don’t know how to do Halloween because we didn’t celebrate in France when I was a kid. We may have heard about it through American movies (“They get free candies? Seriously?!”), that was it. Thanks to an elaborate but efficient marketing campaign, Halloween took off (again) in Europe in the mid-1990s but it is mostly celebrated in bars with a bunch of drunks acting as… well, drunks. At least this was my limited experience of Halloween in Nantes, where no one needs another excuse to hit the bar scene anyway.

In Ottawa, we give out candies every year. But I couldn’t really go trick-or-treating without that essential accessory—a kid.

I baked a baby for nine months and I’m trying to raise a toddler. I deserve to go trick-or-treating now! With Mark walking, that was my perfect excuse to head out for a little bit.

I did what any caring and organized mother would do: I spent months thinking about the perfect costume and I sew it late at night, in front of the fireplace.

Okay, scratch that: I stopped by Old Navy two days before Halloween and picked up the pirate outfit because 1) it was only $10 2) it looked like a good fit 3) I really couldn’t dress Mark as a mermaid.

And ta-da! A pirate he was. He loved the hat and kept on playing with it.

And yes, he had some of these candies. Meh. It’s sugar, not poison!

A Pirate and Its Loot
A Pirate and Its Loot
A Pirate and Its Loot
A Pirate and Its Loot
A Pirate and Its Loot
A Pirate and Its Loot
A Pirate and Its Loot
A Pirate and Its Loot
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26 Comments

  1. Tulsa Gentleman November 1, 2013 at 11:07 am

    Mark makes a great pirate. He is getting big, he has always been cute. Halloween is popular here. It is really All Hallows Eve, or the day before All Saints Day, although few make that connection. For some of us Halloween was the opportunity to dress up and take the kids trick or treating. The kids go up and ring the doorbell while we waited at the curb. Back at the house the kids got sick on candy while the grownups enjoyed punch and whatever the kids wouldn’t eat.

    Reply
    1. Zhu November 1, 2013 at 5:58 pm

      That sounds fun! And I bet it’s warmer down there than in Canada!

      Reply
  2. barb November 1, 2013 at 3:27 pm

    Salut Zhu,
    Too cute!! I don’t when I first trick or treated but I went up until about Middle school. For a North American kid it is like heaven on earth!
    Take care & bises :).

    Reply
    1. Zhu November 1, 2013 at 5:58 pm

      You bet! I’m glad I got to experience it with Mark.

      Reply
  3. I Say Oui November 1, 2013 at 5:20 pm

    “I deserve to go trick-or-treating now!” Ha ha.

    Sure Mark had some candy, it wouldn’t have been very fair not to share with him as he was your ticket to candy land.

    I forgot about those little Halloween buckets! Glad to see they’re still around.

    Reply
    1. Zhu November 1, 2013 at 5:58 pm

      Did you do it in France? I think it’s not very popular, isn’t it? Unless it changed since I left.

      Reply
      1. I Say Oui November 2, 2013 at 4:26 pm

        Nope, not popular here. A friend told me that one group of kids came to his door, and he had to scrounge around because he wasn’t prepared for them. Very few kids trick-or-treat. Luckily an American friend of mine had a party, so I did get to dress up!

        Reply
        1. Zhu November 2, 2013 at 9:25 pm

          My aunt in Paris said the one and only kid who showed up asked for… fruits!

          Reply
  4. Jeruen November 1, 2013 at 6:35 pm

    Wow, Mark is rather quite handsome as a pirate!

    Reply
    1. Zhu November 1, 2013 at 6:40 pm

      It was a good pick after all, fit him well!

      Reply
  5. La Madame November 2, 2013 at 6:49 am

    Ahahah, j’aime bien l’accessoire principal pour passer l’Halloween 😀 Mais c’est clair, t’as bien raison! 😀 Un très joli pirate en l’occurence! 🙂

    Reply
    1. Zhu November 2, 2013 at 9:41 am

      Ben oui, sans un enfant t’as moins de bonbons, c’est bien connu!

      Reply
  6. Dennation November 2, 2013 at 5:47 pm

    Mark looks adorable! I don’t understand, did you actually go out with him? If you did, happy first trick-or-treat to the both of you!

    The last time I went was in ninth grade and I kind of went too far with it. I wore my taekwondo training clothing as a costume and went around for hours. I locked all my candy in a suitcase to keep it safe from my siblings’ long fingers. I munched on that candy for months. No wonder I have a weight problem…

    Reply
    1. Zhu November 2, 2013 at 9:27 pm

      Yes, I went with him around the block, just for fun. It was cool for both of us! I munched on many tiny Kinder eggs when I was a kid 😆

      Reply
    1. Zhu November 3, 2013 at 9:08 am

      Thank you!

      Reply
    1. Zhu November 4, 2013 at 9:18 am

      Thanks!

      Reply
  7. Colleen Brynn November 4, 2013 at 9:17 pm

    Hahaha I love your honesty about getting that costume. Looks like it was a good decision!

    Reply
    1. Zhu November 4, 2013 at 9:37 pm

      Yep, turned out better than I had thought. Lucky pick!

      Reply
  8. Abby November 5, 2013 at 9:04 pm

    Mark looks really cute with that pirate hat! I bet he did enjoy eating those candies 🙂

    Reply
    1. Zhu November 5, 2013 at 9:32 pm

      Oh yes… he likes chocolate!

      Reply
  9. Holly Nelson November 10, 2013 at 2:00 pm

    Oh my cuteness!! Mark the pirate – too adorable!! If I had a little boy I would totally do the pirate thing!!

    Reply
    1. Zhu November 10, 2013 at 3:39 pm

      The perks of having a kid 😉

      Reply

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