I’ve been BOOed!

This little sign came with my treat bag – I now have to hang it in a visible place in my window. The idea is to see how far it gets around the neighbourhood before Halloween.

I was working away on my laptop this afternoon when my cat’s ears perked up. Turning my head, I saw the distinctive silhouette of my friend and neighbour, hurrying away across my front lawn and disappearing into her waiting car. My first thought was, “What the heck??!?”

I opened my front door and smiled to find a little gift bag sitting there – with two Halloween treat bags inside, along with the following poem:

The air is cool, the season fall,

Soon Halloween will come to all.

Ghosts, goblins and spooks galore,

Tricky witches at your door.

The spooks are after things to do,

In fact, a spook brought this to you!

The treats that came with this note,

Are yours to keep, enjoy them both.

The excitement comes when friends like you,

Will copy it and make two.

We’ll all have smiles upon our faces,

No one will know who “BOO” ed whose places!

Just two short days to work your spell,

Keep it secret, hide it well.

Please join the fun, the season’s here,

Just spread these “BOO’s” and Halloween cheer!

At the end of the poem, I read these words:

You have been BOOed! Please keep it going by following these directions:

1) Enjoy your treats.

2) Place the BOO sign on your front door or visible in a window.

3) Within 2 days, make 2 copies of this note, make 2 treats and 2 BOO signs.

4) Secretly deliver to 2 neighbours/friends that don’t have a BOO sign.

5) Keep an eye on nearby front doors to see how far and fast it spreads by Halloween!

Apparently, this is a little trend that has been growing in suburban Ottawa over the past couple of years – but this is the first I’d heard of it! Thought I’d share as I thought it was a cute, little tradition. Typically, I’m not a fan of “chain letters” or those types of things, but in the spirit of Halloween I thought it might be fun to participate.

I texted my “mysterious friend” to tease her that a career in espionage was probably not in her future, and promised I’d keep her identity a secret from my girls. On the way home from school, I told the kids about it – and allowed them each to choose one friend that we will “BOO” in return.

So look out…you just might get “BOOed” next! Happy Halloween!

Halloween candy, cavities and a sweet dentist

So I have a teensy-weensy, tiny little crush on my daughter Lily’s dentist. He is professional, kind and so very patient with Lily. (And OK, he’s pretty easy on the eyes, too…think wavy, salt-and-pepper hair and stunning, blue-green eyes…not that I noticed.)

But that’s neither here nor there, since Lily embarrassed me so badly last Friday that I could probably never go back, at least not with her in tow. In fact, I’m pretty sure she was “dumped.” The good doctor did it so nicely that I didn’t even quite realize it until after the fact. But I’m pretty certain he never wants to see my youngest-born again, and I can’t say I blame him.

Here’s the deal…despite my tyrant-like efforts to keep the kids brushing and flossing, Lily has three cavities in her baby teeth. It may not seem like such a huge deal – they’re baby teeth after all, right? – but evidently, not treating them can lead to problems with the subsequent adult teeth as well. Add to this equation a six-year-old who is bound and determined to keep any dentist from working on her teeth, and you’ve got yourself a dilly of a pickle.

We actually transferred to ‘Dr. Sweet’ after getting an earful from our last dentist, who told us – seemingly without any input or option on our part – that we needed to put Lily under full anesthetic at the children’s hospital to deal with her dental work. Feeling that was a tad excessive for a preschooler, we found Dr. Sweet for a second opinion. He felt that the work could be done in his office, and valiantly made two attempts to work on Lily’s problem teeth.

At the first appointment, the hygienist suggested that I sit in the waiting room. Not having more than the odd muffled audio cue – and hearing only talking and the occasional laugh – I assumed everything was going swimmingly. So I was stunned when the dentist came out and told me that Lily spent the entire appointment biting his fingers, and nothing was accomplished. Ugh.

Crouching down to Lily’s level, the dentist then spent several minutes trying to talk to her; to discuss what she didn’t like about the appointment and how he could make her more comfortable. I did my best to facilitate this discussion, chiming in about how important it was for her to keep her teeth healthy so that her problems wouldn’t get worse and cause discomfort. The appointment was rescheduled, and I left feeling somewhat sheepish for wasting his professional time.

Back at home, multiple discussions occurred between Lily, her dad and myself regarding the importance of the make-up appointment. In fact, in an effort to raise the stakes, Ian (a.k.a. Daddy) put her prized toy on the line: a plush, beluga whale bought at SeaWorld, San Diego last summer. I think both Ian and I felt naively confident that we had the upper hand this time.

So back we went to Dr. Sweet for the make-up appointment, which was fittingly scheduled for the afternoon after Halloween. (Nothing like letting your kid feast on every type of candy one night, then dragging them to the dentist the next, right? No mixed messages here!)

After another hour of absolute patience on his part – and even me coming in from the waiting room to try to put the pressure on Lily – Dr. Sweet very gently, very subtly gave up on Lily. It all came pretty clear to me when he suggested that he could recommend other dentists for us to try; at least he said it with a sympathetic look in those lovely eyes of his.

Now here we are…with no dentist, but a cartload of Halloween candy of all kinds. What irony.

Yours truly lost her cool today when Lily didn’t want to finish her chicken and salad, but was keen to pick out her after-dinner Halloween snack. Umm, I’m going to put a big, fat KIBOSH on that, kiddo. If the nicest dentist in suburban Barrhaven can’t sweeten Lily up, maybe we need to ditch the candy once and for all.

The Twelve Days of Halloween

Since Halloween is truly a holiday for the kids, I thought I’d share a little song our nine-year-old daughter, Elissa, came up with yesterday. I was pretty impressed with her creativity (she sat down at the computer for half an hour and did this completely on her own yesterday); she says it should be sung to the tune of ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas.’ Enjoy…and Happy Haunting!

By Elissa Mendes (Age 9)

On the first day of Halloween my true love gave to me, a fruit bat in a dead tree!

On the second day of Halloween my true love gave to me, two evil ravens, and a fruit bat in a dead tree!

On the third day of Halloween my true love gave to me, three mummies groaning, two evil ravens and a fruit bat in a dead tree!

On the fourth day of Halloween my true love gave to me, four black cats screeching, three mummies groaning, two evil ravens and a fruit bat in a dead tree!

On the fifth day of Halloween my true love gave to me, five cauldrons brewing, four black cats screeching, three mummies groaning, two evil ravens, and a fruit bat in a dead tree!

On the sixth day of Halloween my true love gave to me, six vampires drinking, five cauldrons brewing, four black cats screeching, three mummies groaning, two evil ravens, and a fruit bat in a dead tree!

On the seventh day of Halloween my true love gave to me, seven fluffy werewolves, six vampires drinking, five cauldrons brewing, four black cats screeching, three mummies groaning, two evil ravens, and a fruit bat in dead tree!

On the eighth day of Halloween my true love gave to me, eight Jack o’ lanterns, seven fluffy werewolves, six vampires drinking, five cauldrons brewing, four black cats screeching, three mummies groaning, two evil ravens, and a fruit bat in a dead tree!

On the ninth day of Halloween my true love gave to me, nine banshees shrieking, eight Jack O’ lanterns, seven fluffy werewolves, six vampires drinking, five cauldrons brewing, four black cats screeching, three mummies groaning, two evil ravens, and a fruit bat in a dead tree!

On the tenth day of Halloween my true love gave to me, ten chocolate bars, nine banshees shrieking, eight Jack O’ lanterns, seven fluffy werewolves, six vampires drinking, five cauldrons brewing, four black cats screeching, three mummies groaning, two evil ravens, and a fruit bat in a dead tree!

On the eleventh day of Halloween my true love gave to me, eleven haunted houses, ten chocolate bars, nine banshees shrieking, eight Jack O’ lanterns, seven fluffy werewolves, six vampires drinking, five cauldrons brewing, four black cats screeching, three mummies groaning, two evil ravens, and a fruit bat in a dead tree!

On the twelfth day of Halloween my true love gave to me, twelve dusty cobwebs, eleven haunted houses, ten chocolate bars, nine banshees shrieking, eight Jack O’ lanterns, seven fluffy werewolves, six vampires drinking, five cauldrons brewing, four black cats screeching, three mummies groaning, two evil ravens, and a fruit bat in a dead tree!