BOO!!!!! Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween to all you Spookers, Monsters, Heros, Action Figures, Princesses, Beauty Queens, Bugs, Hobos, Rock Stars, and Celebrities!!!!  And those are only the costumes I can remember!  May your bags, buckets and pillow cases be overflowing with yummy treats at the end of the night!  And to all you Moms and Dads who sneak their treats from the bags, buckets and pillow cases after the younguns have retired their costumes and succumbed to sweet sleep... hide the evidence of the candy wrappers deep down in the trash cans and just know...... the kids count their candy and pretty much know what you took anyway!  :  )

I'm really going to miss seeing trick or treaters and handing out candy this year.... but we are new residents and live in a remote area, so I'll just have to keep the Halloween traditions that I can, which is making a big ole pot of chili and watching scary movies.

Back in the day when my girls were little... we had some close friends and neighbors that we would gather with at one of our houses... eat chili, dress the kids, take tons of pictures.... which to this day are still quite hilarious!.... and then us Moms took the younguns trick or treating while the Dads stayed at home passing out candy and enjoying their 'special' beverages.... aka beer!  Afterwards when all the kids were tired and starting to whine.... we would gather back at he house hosting the chili (we would change up houses year to year)... all the kids would dump their treasures into a pile and the sorting began.... of course.... there was a lot of gobbling of goodies in between the sorting!  Their eyes would sparkle each time they came across their favorite candy and treats.... especially the full size candy bars which was considered the MECA score!  And then.... there was the pile of .....eeewww ick.... I don't like this or that and us parents would descend and scarf the unwanted treats up, thinking we had scored good as well.  Ahhhhh those were the days..... and they passed way too quickly!

One year when I was 7 months pregnant with my youngest... my middle daughter had strep throat with a fever and wasn't allowed to go trick or treating.... so.... I took her bag in hand with my oldest daughter to gather her goodies for her.... but somehow.... no one quite believed I was gathering for a sick child.... one look at my belly and the .... uh huhs and 'those looks' came from each candy giver... yet.... they did indeed drop a goody into her bag.  I happened to be following a father and child most of the way around the neighborhood and he made several comments along the way about how shameless I was to be collecting goodies for my pregnancy.... and then..... we came upon my house, and as we approached the house.... there was my daughter...nosed pressed to the glass... drool dripping from her lip as she watched everyone scampering around in their costumes and collecting candy.... I walked inside, grabbed the candy bucket and dropped candy into his child's bucket and gave him the biggest grin I could manage and watched him drop his head and actually deliver an apology to me!  Gotta say..... priceless!!!!  Thus.... note to candy givers.... don't assume, just drop candy into every bag, bucket or pillow case that is thrust before you with a glad heart!

Then there is the debate about teenagers who go around trying to gather candy and goodies too... some dressed up, some not.... but definitely containers in hand with which they hope to score some goods.  My thoughts are this.... who doesn't like candy... especially chocolate???.... and they usually start their rounds later in the evening when most of the younger children have come, gathered and gone home.... they are quite brave to go trick or treating knowing that some of their peers may have reason to tease them unmercifully the next day at school.... but their quest for treats is stronger than their concern of being ridiculed.... so I say.... give them treats!!!  They usually have quite creative costumes and they always make me laugh.... I'm impressed with their bravery and I myself ravaged all of my girls stash in my own quest for treats.... they are harmless and just want chocolate.... no harm no foul!  They will appreciate and enjoy your gifts and they are basically trying to have harmless fun.  Some of us either take much longer to grow up or we never grow up.  Halloween may be a "children's holiday".... but support the child in all of us... give to the teenagers!  Plus.... you are less likely to get your house "TPed" and/or egged!

I gotta tell about my favorite group of teenagers who descended on my house for treats.... it was the swim team from the highschool.... and they came dressed in nothing but (meaning... barefoot and barechested) in their itty bitty teeny weeny speedo's with goggles on their heads!!!!  Have you ever seen a highschool swim team in their speedo's????  They were all ripped with 6-12 pack abs.... cute as can be and a little overwhelming for a 50 year old Mom!  Talk about bravery!!!!  Let's just say..... they got extra handfuls of candy as I tried hard NOT to stare and look like a perve!  Did I mention it was about 45 degrees that night???  Bless their hearts.... I still can't believe they were that desperate for candy... but I betcha they went home with more than anyone else that night!

And my favorite Halloween of all time is the year I smeared vapor rub (I didn't have any vaseline available and vapor rub was just as good, just smellier!) on the car door handles of a very over confident highschool kid!!!  I still can't believe I was that mischievous....  but..... it WAS really really funny!  I was actually at a neighbor's house across the street.... the neighbor is and always has been quite the 'funny man'... when this kid pulled up and parked his car on the side of my yard.... my neighbor and his buddy started messing with this kid and asking him if he knew whose house he had just parked in front of and if they were him.... they would move his car!  My neighbor and his buddy were just trying to stir it up.... and actually succeeded in scaring the kid enough he ran off to move his car.... of course.... we were laughing soooo hard we were about to pee our pants.... but the story got better.... the dingdong moved his car to the other side of our yard and went off with two young ladies clad in short short short daisy dukes... he was a cowboy and trying to act quite the Dude with these two young blonde bimbo's.... so my neighbor decides that someone wearing all black (me of course!) should go grease up his car door handles.... and so.... I did!  LOL  But... having no vaseline, I had to use vapor rub.... have you ever tried scrubbing vapor rub off your hands??? The more you scrub the worse the smell!  Ahhhh that was really too funny..... to us old folks of course... not to the kid because it made him look bad to his blonde daisy dukes!  But isn't it a night of 'trick or treat'???  That was the only trick I ever did for Halloween.... I never toilet papered anyone, threw eggs or did anything other than hand out candy.... that one trick has been enough to keep me giggling for years to come.

May you all have a happy, safe, and fun Halloween.... enjoy the treats, but beware of the 'tricks' too!