Trick or treat

LITTLE PUMPKIN Frankie was excited about her first Halloween even if it was more for sweet wrappers than sweets.

Diary of a First-Time Dad
Edwin McGreal

Frankie will remember none of it but her first Halloween was quite fun for her parents. Like her first birthday, in but a few short weeks (hard to believe), such occasions are more for the family than for the baby themselves.
So after waking from her early evening nap last Tuesday, Frankie was changed into a pumpkin outfit. It was a hand me down and was for a 6-9 month old baby. Let’s just say Frankie was quite snug. But it felt like a waste not getting at least one wear out of it.
That’s the trouble with baby clothes – their window of use is very narrow. We’re constantly finding stuff that Frankie has grown out of and never worn.
So the little pumpkin suit had to be given one whirl. We may be biased, actually there’s no may be, we are biased, but we thought she looked fierce cute.
So the phone was out to record the moment for posterity. We had a little pumpkin bag where all the sweets and chocolates were for the trick or treaters who called. And it was perfect to accompany Frankie’s costume.
There are things you can give an 11-month-old baby that you could not give to a two-year-old toddler and this was most certainly one of them. The two-year-old would be fully aware of the sweets within.
Frankie? She just saw bright wrappers to play with. But as we took pictures of her taking out all the sweets, you would swear she was getting chocolate so excited was she.
It’s amazing how wrappers can please a baby and as Frankie bit down on them, she didn’t know how close she was to the real prize within. The mini Smarties had to be dispensed with - the cardboard box was no match for Frankie’s teeth. The Crunchie wrapper was much better at keeping the candy from the baby.
Pictures taken, Facebook uploads complete, we had to go for a bit of trick or treating with her. So Frankie’s aunt and grandparents were both visited and delighted to see her dressed up. And with the little pumpkin bag in tow, Frankie started a tradition unlikely to continue. Instead of receiving sweets, Frankie was giving them away. She’ll learn yet.
With the hour having gone back, Frankie’s body clock is out of sync since, so we were hoping her Halloween treat might be an extra sleep. But maybe she had consumed more sugar from breaking through the wrappers than we thought. She was up at 6am.
Turns out Frankie decided to play a trick on us instead.

In his fortnightly column, first-time-father Edwin McGreal  charts the ups and downs of the biggest wake-up call of his life: parenthood.