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| I found this Cinderella costume at Goodwill for $8, so Kylie ended up with two costumes in 2012 |
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| Kylie (ahem... Snow White) 2012- Age 6 |
I will never forget 1994 and my first Halloween in Iowa.
My husband of almost 2 years had to work on Beggar's Night so I was left alone to greet the Trick-or-Treaters. I wished Dan could have been with me, but I was so excited to hand out candy to little ones and to experience my first official Halloween in my hubby's hometown.
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| Kylie's 1st Halloween 50's baby-7 mo. old |
After the first knock on my door, it didn't take me long to pick up on a pattern. Almost all of the children were telling me jokes! I thought it was cute but wondered why. I grew up in Illinois and Pennsylvania and we NEVER told jokes on Halloween.
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| Kylie's 2nd Halloween Lady Bug- 19 mo. old |
When my husband came home and I asked him about the joke phenomenon, he looked at me as though I were a cyclops with a lone eye on my forehead! In an incredulous tone, he said something akin to "What?? Seriously?? you never told a joke on Halloween? It is TRADITION here in Iowa!"
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| Kylie's 3rd Halloween Cowgirl-2.5 yrs old |
Nope, I have never told a joke on Halloween.
That was a HUGE disappointment to my corn-fed, Iowa-grown husband. According to him, I had really missed out. (I think he was secretly thinking that my parents had neglected me where Halloween was concerned. Mom, Dad, you can address this with your son-in-law at a later date.)
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| Kylie's 4th Halloween Bride- 3.5 years old |
This is a GREAT article written by the Des Moines Register telling the history of Joke-telling in Iowa. It dates back to 1938 and encompassed a way to deter violence (which, back then, mostly consisted of soaping windows) as well as a way to boost the war effort. It was so interesting and educational for me!!
I love Iowa!!
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| Kylie's 5th Halloween Cheerleader- 4.5 yrs old |
(In 2010, Kylie had 2 costumes!!)
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| Kylie's 5th Halloween Elmo- 4.5 yrs.old |
Fast forward 18 years and we are now prepping to take our 6 year old daughter Trick-or-Treating this Halloween. Little did we know then that our future Halloweens were going to be a tad bit more challenging.
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| Kylie's 6th Halloween A Cat-5.5 years old |
Our daughter is on the Autism Spectrum and experiences special needs. Lights, sounds, textures (sensory issues), feeding and even speech are difficult for her. So in addition to the level of creativity that is required for such a holiday, we had to shift into Turbo Gear and get Ultra Creative!!
We want her to be able to experience Halloween "Iowa Style" but we needed to figure out a way to make the joke tradition work.
This year, I came up with the idea of creating Prompt Cards. Using clip art (free from the web), I made 4 cards illustrating 4 different jokes. I also typed out the wording so she could use it as prompts if needed. I then laminated the cards and am allowing my daughter to play with them and read them over and over.
We also spend lots of time practicing by telling each other the jokes (she needs to hear them and watch the expressions and hear the inflection in people's voices.)
If you would like a FREE copy of these 4 illustrated jokes, please click on the photo and you will be able to print the file.
We are doing Halloween "Iowa Style" this year!!
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