Post-Halloween Musings

Our Halloween arrangement works perfectly. I prefer to stay home and pass out candy and Jon prefers to hit the streets with the kids. We both get what we want. The doorbell rings frequently, but I enjoy the quiet house in between visitors. Each time I close the door, I’m left alone with my thoughts…

• How old is too old? Some older kids are polite and still pleasantly childlike so I don’t mind that they are still enjoying the thrill of free candy. Others are obnoxious in their costumes and demeanor so I hoard my chocolate from them and begrudgingly find a small fruity Tootsie Roll instead.
  
• How young is too young? If I know you, it’s lots of fun to see your little tike dressed up in their duds. Or if the infant is tagging along with a sibling, then that’s also acceptable. But when I open the door to a mom holding her plastic pumpkin toward me with her baby seated in his stroller a few feet behind her (because it would be too much work to lift the stroller onto the porch) I find it a bit annoying.
  
• Jon and I have often had the doorbell/knock debate. In general, I am a knocker. To me, the doorbell seems too loud and obtrusive. Jon disagrees. He thinks the doorbell is there to be used. I’ve decided that on Halloween, and only on Halloween, Jon is right. And I like the challenge of trying to make it to the door before they go so impatient as to ring it twice.
  
• Pillowcases should not be used. Nothing says mooch more than a bulging pillowcase. I admit that my kids come home mid-way through the night to do an empty-the-bucket candy drop, so I know that they’re getting enough to fill a pillowcase, but I just don’t like the look of it. And this year I got two “no-baggers” who simply took my candy into their hands and then stuffed their pockets. That’s even worse than the pillowcase.
  
• I feel a bit uncomfortable with a flash going off in my face right as I’m opening my door. Again, if I know you, then I’m alright with you using my house to capture your child’s trick-or-treat experience. But being photographed by a perfect stranger is somewhat unsettling to me.
  
• Our living room has twenty-foot ceilings. Our next-door neighbors have the same model of home and have a regular full-size trampoline (with net and all) right in their front room. Every Halloween, I love to hear the trick-or-treaters reach their porch and excitedly exclaim, “Mom! They have a trampoline in their house!” Makes me smile every time.
  
• It’s always a joy to give candy to gracious kids who offer me thoughtful wishes for a “Happy Halloween.” I loved it when the little cheerleader squealed as she ran to her mom to show her her newly acquired Tootsie Pop. Or the adorable little knight who asked me, “ What you gonna be?”
  
• Then there was the preteen who, as soon as I opened the door, said, “Ooh, you’re pretty!” I was feeling all flattered until I realized she was just using it as a get-seconds scheme. I put the candy in her pumpkin first (probably because she had just complimented me so nicely) and then filled her comrades’ buckets. As the group turned to leave she held out her bucket in a you-forgot-me kind of gesture. Tricky.

Yesterday, we did our usual sort and count of the Halloween candy. Tootsie rolls topped the count with 54 pieces. Lollipops came in second at 48 and Snickers came in third at 31. We each picked our top three which is always interesting to me. Almond Joy is my #1, followed by Twix and then Kit Kat. Jon went with Milky Way, Twix and Starburst. Starburst wouldn’t even make my top ten! The kids love the lollipops best which may be one of my last choices. But that’s what’s great about the variety that trick-or-treating provides.

And by the look of the garbage can, we’ve been enjoying it a lot.

What are your top three?