October 29, 2005 - Saturday
Rip's mom and another mom had a Halloween party this afternoon at Rip's house for a bunch of kids Harry and Jeremy know and a few older ones who are firends of the other family. Jeremy was one of three Darth Vaders at the party, but he didn't seem to mind. He'd wanted to be Darth Vader from the start for the last month. Harry started with Luke Skywalker, but switched to lizard, Tyrranesaurus, and even the Lava Dude again along the way. In the end, we convinced him that Luke Skywalker was the best idea, although it was touch and go with Harry right up until the end. I thought it was a great costume, one of the only non-black costumes at the party, and I think Harry ultimately thought it was good too. But I think he worries about things like this, it's been the same every Halloween, and how he will look to the other kids. At least Harry was happy about not having to wear a mask.

After the organized stuff had ended - the treasure hunt, the party games, etc. - Rip had his seemingly inevitable meltdown. This time it was about how all the other kids were using up all the batteries in his toys and, as is too often the case with Rip, it started with Harry. It always starts with Harry because, I believe, Harry is the closest thing Rip has to a brother and that makes Harry kind of Rip's trial and error, social workbench. Worse, since Rip is physically larger, and perhaps because he is inherently more self-confident and somewhat less self-aware, Harry often gets the wrong end of Rip's power plays. Of course, Harry does the same kind of thing in many regards to Jeremy, and vice versa, but I think that's easier for two reasons. FIrst, I'm the father of both of them and therefore can referee pretty quickly when things turn too far. It's a little more delicate with Rip since I'm not in the same position with him. But more importantly, even though Harry is older and therefore has an advantage over Jeremy, with true brothers it really goes both ways. Jeremy gets in his taunting and baiting just fine.


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