Halloween 2010

Songwriter was a Native American princess. Not Pocahontas. Not an Indian princess. She was quite specific about that. Storyteller was a pirate…and probably not for the reason you’re thinking. She spied a bag of diamonds at our favorite dress-up and accessories store, Affordable Treasures. She wanted to carry it with her trick-or-treating. I told her that wouldn’t really go with her police officer costume. So, she decided to be a pirate. Yup. She wanted to carry her jewels. And as a pirate, she’d be able to carry them in plain sight.

7:30 a.m. “MOMMY! It’s Halloween!” screamed Storyteller as she ran into our room Sunday morning. Ugh. To say she was excited would be an understatement. “When will it be night time?” Hmmm…too many questions on a Sunday morning.

This is the first Halloween the girls didn’t trick-or-treat exclusively with Pappa and me. Songwriter was adamant that I arrange to have them trick-or-treat with friends from her classes at school. It meant I had to remember to contact related moms to make sure it happened. This resulted in daily reminders until plans were set – time and meeting place determined.

What a gorgeous night for trick-or-treating. Warm and dry. My worries about the evening getting chillier as we walked the neighborhood were unfounded. Jeans and a sweater were all I needed and the kids? Well, their short sprints from house to house kept their bodies well heated.

First stops were next door and across the street. These neighbors have known our girls since they were born. They love to see their costumes each year and get a kick out of their excitement. Our next door neighbors always carve such interesting pumpkins. This year’s designs were a bit simpler than previous years but it was Giants fever, after all.

We met the crowd of thousands…OK, I exaggerate…about 13 other kids ranging in age from 2 years old to 4th grade (10? 11 years old?) and almost as many parents. Three of them were classmates (current and former) of our girls, the rest were related siblings. It was certainly a different (but FUN!) experience trick-or-treating with such a large group. I liked being able to catch up with the other moms. Truls was a great crossing guard whenever we traversed the streets. You couldn’t miss him anywhere.

We don’t abandon other trick-or-treaters when we go out. Truls and I trust in the honor system and leave a large bowl of candy for the picking. Signs let kids know that we’re out doing what they’re doing and encourage kids to help themselves to 3 pieces of candy each. We’ve done it this way for years and find that the system continues to work – probably because parents are there to assist their kids in following the “rule.”

Stamina was pretty good this year…probably because they had a pretty big crowd to keep them going. We were out for a little over an hour. The girls were ready to call it quits when we said it was bedtime. I think they were tired of carrying their rather heavy trick-or-treat bags and curious to check out their loot.

Once again, the Halloween Fairy (aka Switch Witch) made an appearance last night. Our Halloween Fairy tradition operates a little different from others. After eating what they want after trick-or-treating, the girls pick out up to 10 pieces they want to keep and eat next week (Saturday is candy day in our household). Then, I leave the Halloween bags full of candy by the front door. The fairy then comes during the night and switches out the candy she gathers with a toy or two. She then takes the candy to kids who don’t get to trick or treat somewhere else in the world. My girls liked this version a couple of years ago – it appealed to their compassionate nature – wanting other kids to enjoy the candy-filled experience as well.

And now the holidays begin. First, Thanksgiving and then the biggie, Christmas. One down, two more holidays to go.