Anxiety and Halloween.

How could I forget? Every Halloween is filled with anxiety in this household. And the older my teenager gets, the worse it gets. Halloween, for people who suffer from anxiety, is not the easiest holiday. The clothes "feel". The costume isn't "perfect". "The costume doesn't match." The changing of the costumes that has been happening here for the past 3 days has been incredible. The Halloween bin I have is filled with wigs, dresses, make-up, clothes, purses, you name it I may have it. I even went to the thrift store and bought a few more Halloween type pieces. "They don't fit." "I don't look like the queen of Mardi Gras." What does the queen of Mardi Gras look like anyway? "It's ugly." "I look silly." These quotes are only some of the many that came before the tears started. It's like that episode of "Parenthood" with the son who has Aspergers. It was a very profound episode and my heart was hurt. And, like our stuff, it all turns out well in the end.

Am I missing something here? Isn't Halloween about silliness, ugliness, goofiness, and just plain having a good time?

I will survive this Halloween as I always do. My heart goes out to those who suffer with anxiety. It's not an easy thing to watch. I'm staying out of the costume thing as much as possible. She'll have to figure this one out by herself. I will post pictures when it's all said and done. It'll be great as always when they are counting their candy. I won't even go into what effect the candy has on us.