The Scariest Family on the Block

Halloween engulfed our family like a tidal wave this year. It slowly crept upon us until the Thursday before and then swept us away in its mystery and excitement. Our costumes had plenty of use and we really enjoyed ourselves right up to the part that we had long awaited: Trick-or-treating. My daughter had been counting down the days for weeks, but when we finally came to the moment she had long anticipated, she was so exhausted she didn’t want to do anything but lie on the floor. And, after our marathon of activities leading up to Halloween, which included a stint out of town that had us arriving home to trick-or-treaters two houses away, I couldn’t blame her.

As we pulled into our neighborhood she was sound asleep in the car – you know that deep kind of uncomfortable sleep when you wake to drool dripping down the side of your mouth and a nasty kink in your neck? So she had no idea why mom and dad would so rudely awake her from her slumber. She thought we were crazy as we panicked to get her and the rest of the car unpacked before the fairy and skeleton that were now only one house away showed up to the door in anticipation for their treat. We carried as much as our arms could hold and dropped everything – including the kids – on the kitchen floor as I raced for the candy, and Joe found the lighter to light the all important jack–o-lanterns. It just wouldn’t be Halloween without the lighted pumpkins to welcome the trick-or-treaters. To our surprise and luck – we made it. The pumpkins were lit and candy dumped into the bowl just in time.

By the time we remembered we had two children of our own to attend to, they were little piles on the living room floor. The poor things were a special kind of tired that comes from being filled to the rim with candy and not enough sleep. At this point I seriously considered skipping trick-or-treating, but I just couldn’t do that to the kiddos. We had filled our Halloween with so many fun memories, I wasn’t going to ruin it all by making this year the year with no trick-or-treating. One might say that the kids would forget, but not Charlie – that girl has a memory that ought to be studied by experts. Therefore, we had no choice, trick-or-treating must go on! Our family with two tired, candy filled children led by two exhausted parents, may have been the scariest thing on the street that night, but we knew we had to march on for memories sake.

After coaxing our beautiful Barbie and cute little puppy off the floor and feeding them some real food, we went out. We decided to just go down the street, pure courage could only take us so far. Thankfully, the bravery paid off. Charlie sang “We’re-go-in trick-er-treating” in the sweetest voice as we scurried between houses. And Spencer decided that it was totally awesome to go up to all the houses in the neighborhood. He wasn’t quite sure what they were giving him, but he knew he liked it. The whole process took about 30 minutes and left us with the perfect ending to a really fun Halloween.

Kids are only little once, so we partied it up like rock stars and paid for it all this week. It may have been Fresh Beat Band style partying (you know on Nick Jr?), but I wouldn’t change it for the world. To see Halloween through the eyes of a 1 and 4 year old brings freshness and delight to a holiday that can be staled with age and the cynicism that comes along with maturity. When you think about it – you’re only ever any age once, why not throw pessimism out the door – at least on holidays? So, I would like to thank my children for motivating me to live it up this year and of course a special thanks to all of the houses that offered yellow m&m’s to remind me along the way.