Halloween and Reward or Punishment

Max and I came home from the hospital on the afternoon of Halloween.




The holiday didn't get nearly the attention it has in the past, but we managed to trick or treat.



We pretty much had to wrestle Luke into his lion suit and bribe him with candy, but once he was in, he was in!


Grandma and Dad did the escorting through the neighborhood while Grandpa and I handed out the candy and Max slept in his bouncy seat.


The kids had a great time and got tons of candy. And the night was deemed a success.


Later that week we decided to cash in on the promise to Ava for ice skating. The proposition had been involved in everything from pooping to sleeping over the past few weeks. And we figured it was high time to pay up. And we knew that having Mom here to help watch Luke would let me take pictures while Dan and Ava skated.

Unfortunately, the lighting was not so great for pictures and Ava was not so great for skating.


I had hoped they would have those walker-style contraptions for beginners but they had nothing of the sort. And Ava was not catching on very quickly. She couldn't even skate holding on to the side. Eventually, a nice skater lady took pity on them and held Ava's other hand while she and Dan pulled Ava around the rink. But after Skater Lady left them, Ava was stranded on the far side, clinging to the wall, Dan unable to bring her back by himself. The lady took pity again and helped her get back to the door. And before she left, she gave Dan a little tip. She suggested that he skate behind Ava and hold onto her under her armpits.

And that seemed to do the trick. Not that Ava skated at all; she turned to a rag doll while Dan heaved her around the ice. But she was having fun! Because there is something less than satisfying for everyone when the promised reward turns out to be torture. She had been so looking forward to ice skating, so even though she was killing Dan's back and not even skating, it was good to see a smile.

But all good things must come to an end. And a bit of advice, if you ever find yourself saying, "just one more time", you should probably quit while you're ahead.

As they went around "one last time" Dan did the splits and Ava did a face plant. I didn't know at first because they were on the far side of the ring and I didn't see the actual fall. I looked up when I heard her scream, but she is quite dramatic so I wasn't overly concerned. It was when the screaming didn't stop and I saw them being helped off the ice that I got worried.

Max and I made our way over while I called my mom who was at the play place with Luke. All I said was, "Can you hurry back?! We've got blood!"

Dan's white shirt was covered in blood. Ava had a huge scrape on her chin, a big mark on her forehead, a bloody mouth, swollen nose, and a fat lip. And Ava's skate cut into Dan's knee in two places.

Not quite the reward we had hoped for.

That week one of Ava's teachers came to the car as she was getting in and said, "So we heard about ice skating. And your husband did the splits, huh?" I explained that Dan was hoping Ava would leave that part out of the story, but she assured me, "No way! Ava's dad doing the splits is all over this school!"

So we won't be using ice skating as an incentive anymore. But maybe we could use it is a threat.

"If you don't......then you're going ice skating!"