Halloween Humbug

Aren't they looking adorable? This was taken at the beginning of the Halloween mayhem, on Thursday October 26th as we headed out the door to a neighborhood Halloween Party. It is a darn good thing you can't see me behind the camera; as I have just finished yelling at my kids to stand still and smile. I am stressed out of my gourd, having spent weeks prior to this night preparing for the onslought of dressup chaos that will be continually my life for 5 days following this photo shoot. Truly, I'm portraying one of Halloween's ever present characters; the ugly wicked witch...

I am a total scrooge when it comes to Halloween. While I adore my children, and of course want them to have a lovely memorable childhood, I am not sure I will make it many more years before I beg them to let me take them to a movie on Halloween just so we can avoid the whole "spend $100 to dress up and beg for candy from neighbors and then whine and cry when we can't eat all the candy we begged off the neighbors" thing. I remember my mom doing just that, begging us one snowy (yes, in Utah it used to snow before December) Halloween night to please let her take us out for a hamburger and a movie just so she didn't have to tromp us through the weather in those costumes she had probably spent hours and hours compiling. I vowed then I would always dress up for my kids and have so much fun "celebrating the season"of spooks and gouls, but truth be told I am absolutely my mother's daughter on this one.

Oh, I've tried to find fun in the day. The kids love to dress up, Bryn this year completely planned and budgeted for her own "green pirate" costume. I try to decorate with fun things around the house and even let the kids go crazy with that fake spider web batting out in the yard (it made us look like a trash house, but they had made a good effort.) I've tried to cut expenses in my idea to recycle costumes; we've made the effort to hand them down from one child to the next (come on Porter, don't you want to be a fairy princess? O.k., how about a lion whose tail was lost years ago when moving from one state to the next? and so it goes). I definately recycle the candy. This year my 3 youngest were asked to trick or treat at the local rest home for the clients who live there. Those sweet folks loaded my kids down with buckets full of candy (this was actually a very enjoyable experience watching them oogle and awe over my darling toddlers). But before the evening had even begun Porter and Molly were chalk full of candy. Needless to say the neighbor kids got handfulls out of the rest home loot. And still my kids came home with loads-so many treats and so close to bed time...the neighborhood easter egg hunt in the spring will take care of the rest until next halloween:)

I will say the most redeeming quality of Halloween is that the neighbors come out and associate with one another. We say hello and catch up as our kids stick their hands in the booty and load down their treat bags. We wave to the guy across the street and holler hellos as trick or treaters doorbell us all at once. It brings a neighborhood out for just one night. This is the one and just about the only part of Halloween that I truly, sincerely enjoy.

so, I guess next year we'll do it again. The costumes, the expense, the time and the treats. Only maybe by next year I'll actually make good on my child hood pledge and dress up. No, probably not. Happy Halloween, I guess, until next year...