Surviving the Halloween Hangover

     Yesterday was an amazing day! We had so much fun! My husband takes the day off for Halloween every year, because it is a family favorite and we love to soak up as much Halloween fun together as possible.  Well, kind of last minute, we were notified that my daughter, Dylan, had an audition scheduled for a commercial.  After our family breakfast I had to drive her out to LA early in the morning, which was actually nice because I rarely get one-on-one time with my toddler and she enjoys her auditions.  After that we decided to meet up with Dad and Marley at Disneyland.  Disneyland was awesome! So many fun and creative costumes are there on Halloween.  After a nice afternoon of Disneyland, we headed home to eat a quick meal, carve our pumpkins, and get dressed for a Halloween Party.  The Halloween party was so much fun.  Lots of friends were there and it was complete with food, drinks, crafts, games, and a spook alley...all you could ask for at a Halloween celebration.  Then we went trick-or-treating.  [My favorite moment was watching my 4 year old experience a haunted front yard where people were pretending to be dead bodies coming to life.  There were full grown teens running away screaming, whereas my little girls thought is was entertaining and they both really enjoyed it. Haha! I love it!]  I was surprised my kids stayed alert for so long after a full day (without naps!)...

     Trust me, we are all paying for it today.  Heehee.

     Not in bad way, but we are suffering from Halloween Hangovers.  None of us had any time yesterday to sit and rest!  It was fun, but terribly exhausting.  Pair that with a whole lot of sugar, and you've got a family of lazies the next day.  Poor dad has to work, but the rest of us are making it a "lay around in our pajamas and watch movies" kind of day.  Here is what I did to try and make the day a smooth transition back into reality.

1) I hid the candy.
My kids already had so much sugar yesterday.  Halloween day we don't restrict sugar much at all.  I plan to give them a couple days of detox before distributing a few pieces later on.  But we usually participate in a candy buy-back anyway, so my kids don't go through their candy for more than a few days or so.  Anytime our kids start to eat sugar on a regular basis, I've noticed we start having behavioral issues, so it just works better for our family to heavily limit candy intake.

2) We stayed in pajamas all day.
Call it a family slumber party and check out mentally for the day.  It helps. Haha.

3) I cuddled my kids up in cozy blankets, distributed some books, and put on some movies.
The lazy, quiet time is essential to my own sanity.  Hopefully my girls appreciate it as well. Looks like they aren't complaining. ;)

4) I limited talking and used only my whispering voice.
Yesterday was a non-stop party.  So much was going on and we all experienced sensory overload.  Today has been a much needed rest-stop.  My kids are re-discovering calmness and quiet.  It took a few hours, but they adjusted after I persistently set the mood for silence and relaxation.

5) No productivity. No Stress.
Aside from cleaning up the house a bit (since I can't relax in a messy house, haha), I didn't do much at all today.  It's okay to take a day once in a while to do absolutely nothing.  I am not thinking about anything on my to-do list (trust me, it's full).  I will get to that hot mess tomorrow.  It's okay.  Procrastinating is not the worst thing in the world, and I believe our minds and souls need a break sometimes.  Just as long as slovenliness doesn't become a habit. ;)

Good luck handling your Halloween Hangover!