To Do: Use my child

Happy Halloween friends!  My blog writing has been a little scary lately, or should we say ghostly!  But today is such a fun day.  But Halloween reminded me why I needed a kid after all.

Sure, kids are good to have around as little gophers--with a little praise, going to get the remote from the other side of the room seems like such a big and important job!  And yes, I plan to use my kid to their full go-getting abilities!  I'm an old parent you know!

But sometimes you just need a kid for other reasons.  Matt & I had decided we didn't want to go another Christmas without having a kid around (yep, cutting that goal close!)...I mean our cat, Shadow, gets excited about the tree being up for about 5 minutes and she seems to have no problem sleeping on Christmas Eve. And you may remember that I even tried to become a Big Sister so I could "borrow" a kid just for these reasons.  (See this post here ) But here is some other occasions when you seem like a weirdo if you go without kids.

Trick-or-Treating: I'm not talking Halloween parties.  I'm meaning the whole adventure of ringing the doorbell then checking out if the bowl is full of the cheap stuff or did they go all out and get Hershey products.  Oh, we have an entire bucket (well cauldron to be exact) full of the good stuff here at the Ervins!  But come tomorrow, we have nothing.  They say that 90% of parents steal candy from their child's Halloween stash.  You know the other 10% are either lying or are vegan.  Oh, I can't wait till next year to use our 10 month old to pedal for candy :)

Pumpkin Patch: I love going to a great pumpkin patch--one with pumpkin donuts or ice cream; a corn maze; gourds and mums every where you look; giant pumpkins, tiny pumpkins, lumpy pumpkins, white pumpkins.  Most adults love to go, but again, watching a kid scour the patch for that perfectly round, orange pumpkin (and then posing for a picture sitting on top of it) seems so much better than watching Matt do it. 

Elf on the Shelf: It's not a tradition I had as a kid, though I do remember my Grandma Stahl having those strange-looking, red suited elves around.  But I love the idea of it and can't wait to come up with plans for it.  My friends who are on pinterest have surely seen the awesome ideas! 

Circus: When Barnum & Bailey come to town, you have to go.  But go without kids...and you look like child molesters on the prowl. 

Carnivals: Sure, the carnies like to give men a boost of confidence as they tempt them to show off their big muscles or throw some hoops, but really, it's just not the same as watching a little kid get so excited to cash in their hundred tickets to get a dum dum sucker!  And Matt no doubt cannot wait for an excuse to go to Chuck E Cheese as often as he wishes!

DisneyWorld: If you know me well, you know that DisneyWorld is not my idea of a dream vacation.  Maybe I've just been there too many times as an adult.  But...I will be the first to admit that I can't wait to cast that video of us surprising the little ones with the announcement that we are going to see Mickey.  I'll wait in line for hours with them to get Goofy's signature or ride Dumbo.  I'll even buy them a souvenier shirt. I'm not that big of a scrooge!

Kids movies in a theatre: Speaking of Disney, have you noticed there are tons of cute kids movies out right now? OK, you aren't totally creepy going to the theatre for these, but you have to feel a little bad when the kids behind you claim they can't see over your head and you just wish your kid was your excuse to be drug into that seat!

Dig for Diamonds: The only place you can you go dig for real diamonds and keep what you find is about an hour away from where I live.  But I guess I'll have to wait for my little guy to master the shovel since I can't seem to beg anyone else to go with me.

Zoo: I have yet to go visit the new penguins at the Little Rock zoo.  I even went to Memphis for the weekend and didn't stop at one of the country's best zoos.  But I know the zoo is a reason I put a stroller on my baby registry :)

Children's Museum: You know that my dream job is to work at a childrenss' museum, right?  When I had an interview at the new museum in SC, the lady asked me to name what childrens' museums I had been to.  That question still haunts me to this day!  Oh lady if you only knew how I always point them out on vacation and I would love to visit every one I see, but really, how creepy would I look?  Why don't you just go ahead and ask me if I have kids!!

Library Story Time/Kindermusic: One of the best jobs I ever had was getting to lead story times, playgroups, family nights, and music class for toddlers.  Some of my readers sat through the torture as I tried to be animated while reading a story or worse, sing in front of a group!  But I loved it!  And there is no doubt my kid will be drug to them too!  And very likely, we will come home to make green eggs & ham for lunch, or put streamers on scrunchies and dance to some silly, made up song! 

Advent Calendar: Again, Christmas is for the kids.  And there is nothing like counting down the days till Santa arrives with a kid!  We will be sure to make cookies for Santa and have carrots for Rudolph.  We'll watch the sky and look for a red light.  And we'll get up early to look in the stocking and shake the presents.

Oh, we can't wait to have a kid of our own!