Halloween's a comin' - like it or not...

I know a lot of people don't observe halloween, and for a few years I really tried to ignore it. It's a little easier when you don't have kids, but then I figured out I really LOVE halloween. It's the whole pretending to be something else, playing dress-up, going out into the fall crisp air and yelling "TRICK OR TREAT!!" and GETTING CANDY. Who doesn't remember getting home with your sack full of candy, dividing it up into piles: eat now, eat in the morning, eat later, hide for later and the yukky stuff to give to parents. It was usually a pillow case instead of a sack, and I always had some home costume thrown together at the last minute...so mostly I was always a "hobo". I don't remember ever buying a costume, but I'm sure we did...I do remember some plastic mask thing...

Now, as an adult, I love the whole giving out the candy part. The first year we were married was when I decided to go back to celebrating halloween. I decided it did NOT have to be a dark, scary, demonic holiday if I did not want it to. We lived in Ft Worth in a pretty safe neighborhood where people just brought vans full of kids and dropped them off to trick or treat. It was so much fun. Brandt and I put little written blessings in the 100 or so bags of candy that we gave out, and when we ran out, I had to go to the pantry and give out canned goods, boxes of raisins, etc. until I finally gave up and turned the front porch light off.

Once Annie came along, she got to go trick or treating with the neighbor kids. Her 2 best trick or treating friends were Izzy and Nic. Now, Nic wasn't always excited about having 2 little girls tag along, but he was always a good sport, thankfully, and those girly girls needed at least one manly man for balance. Since we moved to Kerrville, a local church has a wonderful fall festival. Annie starts planning in August for the festival, but sadly this year they've decided not to hold the event. SO, we'll just trek around our neighborhood and yell "trick or treat" the old fashioned way.


We've always tried to make it a FUN time, and as a result she LOVES halloween...at school she tells everyone it's her favorite holiday (even more than Christmas).




Halloween is the start of the holiday season. It's about fall weather, piles of leaves, picking pumpkins, and just plain having fun. Whether your family celebrates halloween or not, I realize it is a personal choice...but in my book, it's just one more opportunity to have fun with my kid and make some great memories.