Needing Advice: Halloween Parade

Ryan does not believe in cosmetics.  If I paint my nails, he squirms and begs, “Off da purple” (or whatever the color happens to me).  If I put lotion on his skin, he demands, “Wipe it off, wipe it off” (mostly playfully now, but it used to be desperate). And we all know how he reacts if he catches me wearing a sticker.

This weekend, my derby league is “marching” in a Halloween parade.  A big parade – like, 15,000 people, with celebrity judges and loud marching bands and stuff.  And we are all supposed to skate around wearing Dia de los Muertos face paint.

Between the makeup and the noise and the crowd and the sensory overload and the being outside for 2-3 hours in late-afternoon / early-evening, I don’t see this going well.

I see a couple of options:

• I could stay home and not participate.  But that’s no fun.
• I could have Ryan watch the girls put on their makeup so it’s a bit less scary.
• I can stay off skates and Ryan could march with me.
• Ryan could hang out with Stu on the sidelines, and if it all becomes too much Stu can whisk him away.
• Ryan could stay home with Stu all afternoon.

Leaving Ryan at home would be the easiest, except that Ryan has been really anti-Daddy lately.  Like, more so than usual.  He finds new and increasingly cruel ways to try to get Stu to leave the room whenever Stu attempts to play with him, and then when Stu insists on sticking around, Ryan has a meltdown.  And Stu’s ego can only handle so much abuse.

Giving Ryan the option to leave early seems like a fair compromise, but the parade is like an hour from our house, so it could end up being a lot of traveling for not much payoff.

Or Ryan could surprise us all and love the parade.

So, with two days til the parade, I’m asking for your advice: what would you do with Ryan?

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TheRyanFiles

The Ryan Files

My kid is great! And he has PDD-NOS and ADHD (e-i-e-i-o). The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Watch us navigate the world of neurodiversity at http://notanaffliction.blogspot.com/