🎃 The Great Butterfly Comeback

(A Bunny Diary October Story)

October might just be the best month of the year in our house — pumpkins on porches, candy in bulk, and a little girl named Gemma turning another year older (which, in her words, makes her "basically a grown-up"). The Halloween excitement starts early around here. The minute our neighbors hang their first plastic ghost, my girls start planning… and un-planning… and re-planning their costumes.

Now, when the girls were smaller, I had full creative control. I picked the costumes, they wore them, everyone looked adorable, and life was simple. But this year — oh, no, no, no — this year we have entered the age of opinions.

It all started innocently enough. I asked what they wanted to be for Halloween. Gemma, my dependable one, said "a butterfly." Jules, her loyal sidekick and chaos coordinator, chirped, "Me too!" Perfect, I thought. Two butterflies — easy, cute, symmetrical. A week later, I checked again (because moms know these things can change faster than snack preferences). Same answer: butterflies. Confident in our early-bird shopping strategy, my husband and I ordered the costumes.

And then it began.

One afternoon, I overheard the girls chatting, and Jules proudly announced, "I'm going to be a unicorn!" Excuse me? I spun around mid-dishwashing. "I thought you were going to be a butterfly?" She gave me a look that said, Oh, Mommy… that was so last week.

The next day, she changed it to "doggy."

The day after that — "cat."

At this point, I'm seeing my life flash before me in the fluorescent lighting of a half-empty Halloween store on October 30th.

So I tell my husband (in mild panic), "We might need to return those butterfly costumes." He, cool as ever, says, "Don't worry, I'll handle it." Which, let's be honest, usually means he'll forget until I remind him twice.

But then — this morning — during breakfast, he leans casually over his coffee and says, "Girls, what are we all going to be for trick-or-treating? Mommy and I are going to be butterflies."

Without missing a beat, Jules stands up on her chair, hands in the air, and declares, "I want to be a butterfly too!"

And just like that — the Great Butterfly Comeback was complete. My husband winked at me, like some sort of Halloween hero, and all I could do was laugh.

Because in every family, there's a rhythm — a balance. The talker and the thinker. The planner and the improviser. The one who panics about costumes and the one who solves it with a breakfast-time bluff.

And somehow, that balance keeps the chaos beautiful. 🦋

Note to Readers:
Here's to the partners who keep us grounded, the kids who keep us guessing, and the seasons that remind us that a little magic (and a lot of humor) can get us through just about anything.

Love, Gemma & Jules’s Mom