It seems that this Halloween was different from most for us. It was only 2 years ago that my oldest now 9 wouldn’t want to trick or treat. He didn’t like parades or walking up to strangers and asking them for candy. He hated the feel of wearing a costume. No problem. I’d play spooky music here at the house and we’d watch Halloween shows on video and I’d make a special dinner. We would get dressed up, but just for ourselves. Then our youngest asked to go trick or treating, so I stayed home with one and my husband took our other son out. He came home thrilled and gladly split his candy with his brother. Yes, sometimes I felt we were outcasts and I was missing out on things I had looked forward to doing as a parent. I was content although because I certainly didn’t believe in forcing my child to comply. I know for some families Halloween is just miserable, but we were happy and made the best of it. Last year when my son turned 8 I took him shopping so he could pick out his costume and we had a long talk over many. “Are you just saying yes because you think I would like it?” I’d ask. He would eventually admit it time and time again. We finally settled on what I thought was a lame costume, but he was thrilled not to be wearing a mask, anything on his head, hands and legs. We went out early to avoid the crowds and it was a success. This year he went full costume and even asked to go trick or treating. We still avoid parades, but as someone who hates crowds herself I’m thrilled. We still have our special dinner and music but we get a little bit more now. This year I learned quite a few things…..
This Halloween I learned that:
1. it truly drives me crazy when people put a bag in a baby stroller and push the stroller up to a door and ask for candy for the baby. ( Seriously? Now, I’m not talking you are taking your 3 kids out and you have a baby, I’m talking a baby. Most of the time the baby is sleeping when the parents ask for candy. All I get from this is that the parents want candy. I doubt that they would give their 4 month old baby candy, but I could be wrong.)
2. it creeps me out when people take photos of my kids without asking me. ( Yes, 2 houses took pictures of my kids at the door. One was a couple of elderly folks and the other people were having a party and were probably intoxicated. Still don’t like it.)
3. when you are letting your kids walk alone and you are following in a car you look creepy. ( I know, it’s Halloween, but my hubby still looked like pervert following us in the car sorry babe.)
4. putting alcohol in your coffee cup while trick or treating with your kids is just plain nasty. ( I could smell your breath cowgirl when you told me I had a nice tail-WTF! Wait till you get home!)
5. even if you wear a coat over your sexy cougar outfit while out with your kids some old dude will still yell things at you from their car window. ( At least he was kind in front of the kids and only said, “Hey, I hope you are getting a lot of candy!”, while winking at me. By the way I had my coat buttoned all the way up!)
6. my kids are super polite without me having to say anything. (The best part of the night was that I never had to say, “Say thank you.” Plus O followed through with a “Have a Happy Halloween.” Awesome!)
7. my husband thinks there is something wrong with the kids for not sneak eating candy. (LOL! I let them have one piece and he stole 5 and got busted by the kids.)
8. it was easy to just ask the kids for candy for the troops and the Switch Witch. ( Love the Switch Witch idea, They give the witch as much candy as they like in exchange for a toy. The more candy the bigger the toy. We said no to the Xbox right away. Not enough candy for that, but they pulled together 5 pounds believe it or not!)
9. some parents find Halloween very stressful. ( I get it, but I still believe there has to be a way to make it work. We did.)
10. Letting my kids go to the door by themselves can be a bad idea. True Story: So, as my husband and I are in the car we send the kids up to a house. I hear a voice say, “Come in and get some candy.” My son tries to open the screen door, but it’s locked. They stand there for a little bit then my son begins to look confused. I tell him to just come to the car, then he screams, “Mommy I think something is wrong!” I run out of the car and find a man lying on the floor by the front door. I check to see if he’s awake. He tells me he fell and can’t get up. I call for my husband and he runs from the car and asks the man what happened. I tell the kids to get in the car. My little guy looks like he’s going to cry and I assure him that everything will be just fine. The man says, ” This happens sometimes.Did they get candy?” My husband helps him to his feet and I hold him from the back. I ask if we can call someone, but he insists that he is fine. His place seemed clean so we knew someone must take care of him. A couple with their children approach the door and the man says, “Please just get them candy.” As my husband grabs the bowl the man begins to slide back and I’m literally holding him up. The couple not only don’t say anything, but after both of their children get candy they ask for more for the baby asleep in the stroller. The mom takes some for herself as well. ( I guess since she was wearing a costume she thought she should get candy as well. Oh, remember the cowgirl drinking- this was her.) My husband helps the man back to his chair and we find our kids huddled together in the car. I’m sure they will never forget this Halloween night. I myself will never send my kids to the door alone again. Lesson learned! Oh and by the way, my kids got NO candy from this house after all that-LOL!
Walter Milani says
That cowgirl needs to be contained!
karen medlin says
I don’t feel comfortable with folks taking pictures of the kids while out on Halloween either, nice cougar outfit. Halloween can get you stressed, but it all comes together at the end… Thanks for sharing.