Her list turned out to be a pictograph:
It appears that we have already accomplished each task on this list, because Madeleine checked off every picture. Maybe it's just me, but I would think that making a list AFTER having completed each job kind of defeats the purpose.
Now, just in case you can't decipher exactly what the pictures on this list represent, I had Madeleine explain it to me, so I am now qualified to walk you through it.
Up top is a ghost, obviously, although I foolishly assumed it was meant to be our stuffed ghost decoration. WRONG!
ME: Did you check off the ghost because we have a ghost decoration?
MADELEINE: Um, no. The ghost is for HANGING UP BLANKETS as GHOSTES.
Oh. Yeah, hanging up blankets, none of which are white, makes much more sense for a ghost than putting up our actual ghost decoration. Not to mention the fact that Madeleine has it in her brain that we're going to be NAILING BLANKETS TO THE WALL.
Next on the check list, below the ghost, is a picture of a dress. According to Madeleine, the task is "trying on our COSTUMES." They truly did already do that. I might be the only parent in the world who ordered Halloween costumes in August, but THAT'S HOW EXCITED the kids were for Halloween. They literally begged me for days on end to order their costumes, even though I was still trying to enjoy the last glory days of summer.
Item number three on the list is "bring your candy basket." Since we already have pumpkin totes with which to trick-or-treat, this task got a good ol' check mark as well.
Now, the next picture on the check list threw me for a bit of a loop. It looks like happy lopsided-smile girl is hanging out with a friend who has a scribbled up slice of watermelon coming out of his face. I couldn't figure the meaning out on my own, but luckily I overheard Madeleine explaining the picture to her sister.
MADELEINE: Julia, I checked THIS one off because you have to ASK permission.
JULIA: (scathingly) You don't have to ASK permission, Madeleine, you have to say THANK YOU.
Hmm. Still a little foggy on this one. I'm going to take a gander at it and assume by "ask permission" Madeleine means saying "Trick-or-treat" to the various owners of the houses we stop at. Maybe that's not a watermelon after all, but a candy bowl. I'm still confused about why the candy-giver appears to be vomiting the bowl out of her mouth, though.
And here we are, at the final picture! It's a bat, right? Since we have a bat decoration I thought I had this one locked up.
I was way off base though.
MADELEINE: So Mama, the LAST thing on the list is: "HAVE FUN!"
Okay. I think I get it. I mean, bats are fun, right? Who DOESN'T want to play with a bat? Especially on Halloween! The risk of rabies just adds to the whole spooky atmosphere, no?
I've gotta say, I'm loving this check list. There's nothing that I actually have to do, because we've already done it all! Seriously, we could just have Halloween happen RIGHT NOW, because we've got blankets, we've got costumes and candy bags, and we TOTALLY know how to ask permission and have fun! Happy Halloween!
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