Twilight of the Toa

There he is.  Our sweet little boy.  He hasn't been the same since that rally he attended in DC over the weekend.

In case you didn't know it, Sunday night was Halloween.  The tradition in these parts is for Kiernan to go out trick-or-treating in the neighborhood with his friend Sam.  Sam and his folks, a group that now includes Sam's little brother Ben, come on over and we all head out to hunt and gather.  Excepting one Halloween a couple of years ago, when we were on a family trip in Hawaii, it has always been thus.  I hope it continues.

I imagine you're having trouble sussing out what Kiernan's costume is in the above picture.  I'm surprised at you. Really.  He's clearly Vakama.  I can almost see you nodding at your computer right now and thinking to yourself, "Vakama.  Of course!  One of the Turaga of Mata Nui.  He was once the Toa Metru of Fire, if I'm not mistaken!"  And yes, you are correct.  He was once the Toa Metru of Fire.  Nicely done!

Maybe the homemade fire-sword threw you off?  Hmm.  I bet if I'd put up a proper picture with the mask down you would have gotten it straight away.  So here...

See?

Okay, okay.  Enough.  Vakama is a Bionicle, Kiernan's most recent obsession.  For awhile it was all Bionicles all the time in this house, but I think the obsession is beginning to fade.  This is a good thing in that the stores seem to have run out of Bionicle characters for us to buy.  I'm just relieved he stayed interested enough in the characters for the costume to still be relevant.  He loved being Vakama, even if he plays with the Bionicle toys less and less.

As the years progress, I'm finding this phenomenon more and more unnerving.  He goes through cycles of interest in toys--Star Wars figures for instance--and subjects--dinosaurs, the Solar System--as I'm sure all kids do.  I just never could have foreseen of how this would create an oddly stressful dynamic at this time of year.  I'm not just talking about planning a costume, although that's part of it.  I'm talking also about the impending holidays, birthday included, and how these cycles impact wish lists.  We tell folks what he's into, or he declares what he wants to put on his wish lists (this year: "A LOT of  Bionicle toys!") and we cross our fingers hoping some goofy friend of his doesn't nudge him over into something new--Pokemon cards, I'm looking at YOU!--before we claw our way into the new year.

I know this is an idiotic thing to be stressful about in a world where so many children want for the most basic things, things like fresh water, but such is the world of parenting.  I reckon this dynamic will only get more volatile in the years to come, so for now there's another blessing to count.

Trick-or-treating went nicely for the most part.  Ben, Sam's little brother, dropped out of the expedition well before the older boys.  His dad, Joe, brought him back to the house where I was on candy-dispensing duty.  This was an unexpected plus for me, as Ben and I haven't ever had a chance to bond before this.  We conversed on a wide range of topics, from Reese's to lollipops, and I think we really made a connection.

While I missed the actual house-to-house action, I did get to see the photographs.  Pretty neat.  I shall use my favorite to end this post, because it perfectly complements the picture up there at the top.  Kiernan, fierce warrior...and...

...reader.

When I saw this picture I laughed out loud.  This house is around the corner from ours, and I saw these little gravestone decorations last week when I was out for a walk.  I noted in passing that I should stop sometime and read the little jokes printed on them with Kiernan, but this thought flitted right out of the transom of my mind and I never did.  It was oddly pleasing, then, to see him crouching and checking out the jokes with his friend in the midst of gathering all that candy.

Good stuff.

[P.S. Hopefully I'll get some more and better pictures from Sam's mom, Heather, and post those later.]