A day that will live in infamy

Well, okay, it wasn't that bad. But Matthew did not go trick-or-treating tonight, and great were the ensuing tantrums.

I got home from work early, took the kids to walmart to get more candy -- we had a three-gallon punch bowl full, but that was only barely enough last year -- and brought them back for a hearty dinner of chili before setting out.

Melissa scarfed hers down. Matthew took a couple bites, pronounced it good, then demanded "help" with the last three or so. (That's right, he only had five or six bites worth to start with -- we figured that with trick-or-treating to be done, he probably wouldn't be very interested in food.) I told him I'd be glad to help him with the last bite, but he needed to eat the rest himself. He just sulked. Meanwhile Rachel got Melissa ready to go out, so I told Matthew I'd be glad to take him after Melissa was done if he finished his chili.

Melissa and I hit three hours and came back -- she had fun but didn't really get it. She was more interested in going to see the decorations in the yards, than going to the doors for candy.

We arrived to howling from Matthew's room. Guess who didn't finish his chili? Matthew had been looking forward to trick-or-treating all month, but it looks like he was ready to cut off his nose to spite his face.

I went to his room and offered him two more minutes to eat, in case he was just tantruming because he misunderstood and thought I wasn't going to take him out at all. He agreed, and I set the timer. It rang two minutes later with no more bites downed, so we put him to bed. Howling.

Like I told my dad on the phone, "You have a stubborn grandson."


(Rachel's note: Truly a sad day. He was such a good boy earlier too... The evening was made all the tougher because every two minutes the doorbell rang and Matthew was reminded anew about what he was missing. Perhaps next time he will think twice about gambling whether Mom and Dad really mean it, especially when the stakes are so high. Oh well, at least we don't have to figure out what to do with a lot of extra candy in the house.)