Halloween was fairly decent. Instead of our normal route around town, we opted to go to a friends Halloween Party, which doubled as her son’s 10th birthday party as well. They went all out with the decorations, and took the kids on a hayride around town. N was Ironman this Halloween - the first time in his 6 years of life he has been anything other than a Power Ranger. It was a welcome surprise, as I have an obscene amount of pictures of my son as a Power Ranger…

Naturally, I went on the hayride with him. Most parents chose not to, which I can’t quite understand, but anyway maybe that’s just me. Maybe I’m just anal like that, but my 6 year old is not going to be cut loose on Halloween night to run wild without my supervision. He may not get to do it when he is 16 either, who knows.

We did have a moment this night. You probably know the moment. The one where your heart stops, your world flashes before your eyes, and you can’t speak or breathe… My son ran out in front of a car. I could have, literally, died on the spot. The car was stopped, letting kids cross the street and one of the parents told the kids to all stop at the end of the driveway they were in to let the car pass, and they did. No sooner than I saw this, I realized that N was getting his bucket filled with candy and probably didn’t even hear what was just said… then, as quick as lightening and as fast as that thought crossed my mind, he turned and ran, straight into the street, directly in front of the car. Luckily, the car had just let off of the brake and was barely even moving, but it was enough to scare the living bejeezus out of me, and him too… because when he came to me the look in his eyes was sheer terror. I hugged him and said “Sit down, right here by me.” And he did, without an argument, and he skipped the next couple of houses while we both just sat there and absorbed what just happened, and what could have happened.

I watched him sleep most of that night, thanking God repeatedly for looking out for him. I have never been so terrified in all of my life. As minor as it may sound, the slightest idea of losing my child sends me over the edge, and that just about did me in.