NOT-SO-HAPPY HALLOWEEN

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That four-day long weekend from October 29 to November 1 was amazing.

In fact, I looked forward to it so much I made sure I’d enjoy it. Enjoy meaning I’d catch up on sleep, declutter, read some books and magazines, watch some of the movies taking up space in my phone and hard drive (so I can then delete them), and then sleep some more.

All those I got to do (so proud of myself), but there was one thing I failed to do: celebrate Halloween with Sadako.

Sure, watched the Halloween specials of certain cartoon shows (plus the Halloween special of Kapuso Mo Jessica Soho), and ate some candy, but we didn’t attend any party or go trick-or-treating.

Blame it on me thinking she wouldn’t enjoy it or assuming she wasn’t interested. Okay, blame it on me who was too lazy or too busy decluttering and reading and watching and sleeping.

But I felt sad and ashamed of myself when on October 31 she asked for us to go to the mall so she could wear her Rapunzel costume and bring her pumpkin pail so she could get candy (that she knows she couldn’t eat coz she might get tonsillitis or a sore throat).

I said no (admittedly coz I was lazy), explaining that the mall trick or treat was already done; they held it the day before.

Sadako was disappointed but she let it go and just went back to watching Teen Titans Go on YouTube, but I felt really bad about the whole thing. I felt like a bad parent coz I let her down and I deprived her from having fun – from celebrating Halloween! I felt like I was worse than those parents who’d tell their kids they ate all their Halloween candy.


Sadako’s over it now and she’s forgotten about it. I don’t even think it was a big deal for her.

But it is a big deal for me. Sometimes, you get too tired or busy you get to forget or neglect your child. Sometimes, you even try to justify the whole thing.

That not-so-happy Halloween was a wake-up call for me, a reminder for me to spend more quality time with my daughter and make things happen for her. It’s really easy to give her a fun time and make her happy and I should not let laziness or a hectic schedule stop me from giving my daughter a lot of fun moments – and a productive, fulfilling life.

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