The Costume Parade Is Lacking This Year

As Halloween’s go, this could be the “lowest key” low-key Halloween we have ever had.

This post, which would normally be our “Halloween Wrap-Up” post is not much of a wrap-up post at all.

With only 3 parties scheduled this season, we were already down a few activities (and costume choices) before the season began. One party was rescheduled to a time when DC could not attend, so we were down to 2.

He chose Peter Pan for his camp party. Chip and Mrs. Potts from the cancelled party will have to be put on hold for another year.

But…. he did go with “Jim Dear” for his Halloween/Trick-or-Treat party and he was pretty excited about it.

As you may or may not know, DC asked to be “Jim Dear” (of Jim Dear and Darling fame from Lady and the Tramp) for many years. I always talked him out of it because Jim Dear, is basically just a guy in a suit and no one would know who he was supposed to be – which honestly would not be the first time, but …….. a guy in a suit? We could do better than that.

A few years back when all of the Steam Punk clothing and costumes became popular and easier to find and while shopping for a hat for a different occasion, I happened upon a derby-type hat, I thought that would be the year he could finally be Jim Dear.

Well…… he already had other costumes in his head and Jim Dear was not on the list! It had ALWAYS been on his list but for some reason, that year it was not.

This year, it was his first choice.

He finally got to be Jim Dear.

Yes – still just a guy in a suit, but he loved it.

Yes, most people thought he was Charlie Chaplin and I am not sure why Charlie Chaplin would be carrying a briefcase, Lady and Tramp, but…..

he knew who he was, so that is all that mattered.

He had fun eating pizza and trick-or-treating with his friends, so in the end, Halloween was a success.

And we’re ahead of the game by one costume (Mrs. Potts and Chip) for next year.

In DC’s world, Halloween is over as soon as we arrive back home. That being the case, the calendars were changed to November first thing and

“Vickie, I am so excited for Thanksgiving” began –

because……

#ItsWhatsNext

Party Choices; The choice is not always clear.

Posted by TakingItAStepAtATime

This is more about DC’s ability (or inability) to choose between two or more options than it is about Halloween but Halloween is a factor in this particular story.

DC takes Halloween and the costumes he chooses, pretty seriously. It seems as though we used to have more parties to attend and more costumes to put together than we do now, but this year we knew there would be the basics, Best Buddies, Camp and Halloween night. The camp party was scheduled for Saturday at noon and Best Buddies for Sunday at noon.

Perfect! Right?

No…

A couple of weeks ago it was announced that the Best Buddies party was being rescheduled from Sunday to Saturday at noon; the same day and time as his camp party. I knew this was going to be a battle. Not only would he have to pass on one party and give up on one costume, but he would have to UNDERSTAND that he could not do both.

First of all – it was on the calendar and when something is on the calendar, it is engraved in stone.

Second of all – This was not something getting cancelled, which is usually cause for some trauma, but he gets over it. This is not “Mom” making a mistake on a date, where there is no choice involved – which is not fun either but he gets over it…… eventually.

This is him knowing about and planning on attending both, and now having to make a choice between them.

DC cannot always grasp this concept. He does not always understand, as many times and ways I have tried to explain, that if he chooses one that means he can’t go to or have the other.

It is not that he expects to “have it all’, it is more like he thinks of choices as being what he chooses will now come first and the thing he did not choose will still come later, just not at the originally expected time.

The many years of explanations and the times when he had to make a choice and did not get to do or have whatever he did not choose, does not seem to stick or help him understand any better the next time.

I knew for a fact that DC was not going to be the only one who might have a difficult time understanding that going to one party means not going to the other.

Originally, when I first explained the change and conflict to him – the chose the Best Buddies party, but when it was explained that he would not be able to go to the camp party, he changed his vote and went with camp.

After a week of him yelling at me at random intervals that he wanted to go to the camp party, I stopped explaining that it meant he could not go to Best Buddies. There is always a point where the explanation causes more anxiety than the choosing.

Even though I never want to see that heartbroken look on his face after I was sure he understood the choice only to discover later that he really did not, I stopped mentioning the Best Buddies party.

He continued to randomly yell about wanting to go to the camp party for the next week as well. I continued to tell him that he was going; no worries. There was no more mention of the Best Buddies Party on my part or his.

I still waited a little while before telling his Buddy that he would not be attending just to be sure he did not change his mind.

On Friday morning (the day before), he brought up the Best Buddies party out of the blue but I told him that he chose camp and I already told his buddy that he would not be there.

No reaction….. Phew!

On Saturday morning he mentioned a few friends that would be at the Best Buddies party, not at camp. I again explained that he chose the camp party. He was getting his costume on at the time which distracted him so I did not get a reaction about his party choice.

He went to camp and had a great time. There was no mention of Best Buddies.

He even found a “Captain Hook” to go along with his Peter Pan costume. (bonus theme and he loves babies!)

I was sure he would start on the Best Buddies party as soon as the camp party was over, but he mentioned nothing about it when I picked him up.

I haven’t heard anything since.

If he does not mention it by the time Halloween night rolls around, I am home free and I will know that he “got it” – but as long as there is time in his mind for another party before Halloween night, I cannot be sure.

I am thinking positively (with fingers crossed) because it really seems like he understood….

Finally!

Maybe?

We will see.

Supernatural – I wish I was able to hear that Conversation #SPNNJ

Posted by TakingItAStepAtATime

This week the Finish The Sentence Friday prompt is a Listicle – “Share 10 photos from your phone”. There could not have been more perfect timing.

As you may or may not remember, I lost all of the photos that were stored on my computer a few weeks ago. The computer went to the “computer guy” just before we went away for the weekend. It took much longer to get it back (with some of the photos recovered) than I expected, so all of my photos from that weekend are still on my phone waiting for a computer to download them on to, so I could write about the weekend as I do with every Convention, ComicCon or the like that we attend. They were already cropped and cartoonized (not a word, I know) and ready to go.

So here goes.

As you also may or may not know; DC loves New York City. He also loves Kim Rhodes. He met her last year at the same convention in NJ that we would be attending this weekend and I believe it was the highlight of his year (Let’s Talk About Kim Rhodes #SPNNJ)

As we did last year, we decided to take the weekend to go to New York City on Friday to do “DC-Stuff”, as he puts it, go to the convention on Saturday and back to New York for more “DC-Stuff” on Sunday.

Photo #1 (since this IS Supposed to be a “list)

“DC-stuff” means Times Square, The Disney Store, The M&M or Hershey Store (he chose Hershey this time), The Book Store and Lunch at Hard Rock. We accomplished that on Friday.

The hotel where we were staying was in NJ, within walking distance of the convention center.

Photo # 2

He started getting a little bit anxious at the hotel. He was done “of” walking (DC-Speak) but also excited about the next day. But this is normal for him. He “Flapped Furiously” for a while and got it out of his system.

Photo #3

Because I have learned much over the years, we had to go over the rules. Briana Buckmaster has beautiful long flowing blonde hair so he had to promise not to touch it (he would be reminded again the next day, but it never hurts to begin the reminding early) and of course, he is not allowed to “pick up the people” (a lesson I learned the hard way)

Saturday came and DC did a <insert sarcasm font> “little bit” of stimming outside the hotel (I’m sure it is on you-tube somewhere) and once he got himself together we walked over to the convention center.

He had his picture taken with Ruth Connell who had her hair up, luckily – but before he got anywhere near her, he was made to listen to the rules again – just to be on the safe side.

Photo #4

We sat in on the panel with all of the women characters where he got his first glimpse of Kim Rhodes. I had purchased autograph tickets for Kim Rhodes and I thought Briana Buckmaster because DC really wanted to say or hear her say “Okey Dokey” or in DC-speak “Ok-kiddy-Do-key” but #MomFail, I did not buy both. I don’t know what I was thinking. But he got to see Kim Rhodes, so he was sort-of okay with my error.

In line, waiting for the autographs, DC was, for some reason rehearsing “This is my mother, Vickie *LastName”, but when we reached the table and Kim asked him who I was he just said “Vickie” – not his mother – just Vickie.

Onward to the photo ops.

Photo #5

First ….. Kim Rhodes. The ‘Boy” is very happy, in case that isn’t 100% obvious.

Photo #6

Even though I failed with the autograph tickets, I did get a photo-op ticket for Kim and Briana Buckmaster together. Briana had her hair up too, so she was safe from DC the Hairdresser. He was thrilled, as you can see. I did not hear if he was able to give her an “Ok-kiddy-Do-key” and if she would even understand what he was saying if he did, but he was one happy guy. He wore his “Jody (Kim Rhodes) and Donna (Briana Buckmaster) shirt very proudly that day.

Once photos are taken, it is a good amount of time before they are printed and put out on a table in the vendor room. We only had one more photo-op to go before we were going to leave, have dinner and go back to the room for a break before we came back for the concert at 930. I try not to schedule anything after 3 or 4 so we have that time to take a break before the concert. It’s a long day for DC. Doug checked the photo table while we were in line for Misha Collins.

The last photo-op of the day and I have to say, my favorite photo of all time.

Photo-ops move quickly and there is not really any time at all to say more than “hello”. I was standing off to the side and saw that Misha Collins was taking to DC and DC was answering. I do not know if he was getting actual answers to the questions he was asking but I could see that DC seemed to be responding to whatever he was saying. It was more than a quick “Hello, what is you name”.

Whatever they were talking about; the conversation led to this photo.

Photo #7

Absolutely the

Best . Photo . Ever.

Let me also point out that DC TOOK HIS GLASSES OFF for the photo! That does not happen.

I did not see the photo until after we left and had dinner. We were able to get the first two photos before we left he convention center. We stopped at Outback on the way back to the hotel. After dinner Doug volunteered to go back to the convention center to check for the photo while DC and I went back to the hotel.

DC and I were sitting at a table outside the hotel when I saw Doug coming down the road with the photo, laughing. I don’t know if he laughed all the way from the convention center (I would have) but he was sure laughing on the way to the table.

Best picture ever.

It makes me really want to know what they were talking about before it was taken.

After our break, we went back for the Saturday Night Special (the concert) where DC got to hear them all sing.

Photo #8

Photo #9

Photo #10

Photo #11 (Bonus)

The concert ended with Justin Guarini. I am not sure why he was there, but……. cool. It was also a bonus for Doug because if you know Doug at all, you know that he has no idea who anyone on TV or in the movies is, but he did know who Justin Guarini was, not from American Idol but from American Idiot – one of the few Broadway shows that I dragged him to that he actually enjoyed.

A few things I noticed, though. We’ve been to a few conventions over the years and this one is one of the most organized conventions around, without a doubt.

DC had a few minor meltdowns while we were there. No one stared, no one made an issue about it. One lady was concerned and asked me if he was all right. I started to explain that he has autism and he gets a little bit anxious and before I got that all out of my mouth, she said “Oh, I know. Does he need anything?”

During another outburst, the woman behind us in line did not even flinch and offered us some granola bars in case he was hungry.

I guess I am not used to people knowing and understanding without me having to explain. It was nice. Maybe the whole “awareness thing” is doing some good in some places. It certainly was not the case when he was stimming outside the hotel that morning.

Sunday consisted of sleeping late; as late as DC would allow and back to the City for the rest of the “DC-stuff” on his list.

Central Park

and the Eloise Store at the Plaza

****

This has been a Finish The Sentence Friday Post. This week is a Listicle and the prompt; Share 10 photos from your phone.
Finish The Sentence Friday is hosted by: Kristi at Finding Ninee and Kenya at Sporadically Yours