Halloween Tales

For the first time ever, I had sick kids on Halloween. What a terrible time to be sick...Em missed her Halloween party at school; Matt pooped out on trick-or-treating about half way through. And in the end, neither one of them had much fun.

Our neighbor, who is such a genuinely good person in any case, heard the kids were feeling bad on Halloween day and brought them each a candy bar--just in case they didn't get out to trick-or-treating. I love it when people affirm my belief that there is still much good left in the world. My charming boy-child has decided that if a costume isn't scary, it isn't worth putting on. This year, that philosophy resulted in a grim reaper who was put down by a tummy ache.

My precious girl-child is precisely the opposite. She believes in all things beautiful; it is still possible to be a princess, and if your costume is soft AND lovely, you couldn't ask for more.

Every once in a while, I wonder if I had realized how much joy my kids would bring me, would I have started sooner and had more of them? Other times, like this morning when they were screaming and fighting with each other, I thank goodness that I had the good sense to know my own limits.

In any case, our days of trick-or-treating are limited. In my own case, I went for the last time in 6th grade. At that age, I had reached my full height, and I got strange looks from some of the older folks who clearly thought I was too old to be out trick-or-treating. I say let a kid be a kid--and if that means trick-or-treating into your teens, so be it. I hope my kids continue to want to go long after they get "too old."