Trick or Treat

One of the perks of being a parent is reliving fond childhood memories. As a kid, Halloween meant dressing up in a costume (almost always handmade), carrying a pillowcase around the neighborhood and chanting those magical words, "Trick or treat."

At the end of the night my brother and I would dump out our pillowcases of gold, immediately sort the candy into piles, and trade each other for the goods. Occasionally someone would hand out a large candy bar and that was always extra special. In reality, most of the candy ended up getting tossed but that was beside the point. There's something magical about being able to go to a stranger's door once a year while you get oohed and awed over and get a free treat. I still love dressing up. As fun as costume parties for grown-ups are, it is definitely more rewarding to walk along with Collin and watch the look on his face as he opens up his treat bag.

Of course Collin was a pirate this year (and I was a pregnant pirate wench). On Saturday we went to two parties. It doesn't get much cuter than little kids in costumes. I loved all the family themes too. Halloween is a great excuse to express your creativity.

On Halloween, Collin and I headed to my parents for Collin's second year of trick-or-treating. We went with my mom (a Rastafarian, mon) and brother in their neighborhood which is much Halloween friendlier than ours. Collin definitely had more stamina than last year. We went up and down a few blocks while our hands and face went numb in the cold but were thankful it was a clear night. Collin had to be nudged to remember his lines. Sometimes his face went blank as he stood at the door and a stranger remarked on his cuteness. Other times he'd spill out, "Trick or treat," before anyone came to the door. Eventually he got it.

Collin faced his fear and went up to the scary skeleton house with spooky music. Thankfully the freaky guy hanging out on the porch to look like a prop didn't jump up and cause nightmares.

At the end of the night, Collin picked out a lollipop to enjoy and I snatched the bag to stash away a few guilty pleasures while the others met the garbage fate. One neighbor even handed out a large Baby Ruth candy bar, which will be awaiting me in the freezer.

Collin continued to talk about ghosts and skeletons and I'm sure he went to sleep dreaming of the macabre and sweet treats that Halloween offers.

The next day he asked if it was Halloween again and I'm sure in a kid's world, it would happen every weekend. Of course since it's now November, we'll start to see Christmas stuff everywhere so it won't be long before Halloween is a memory and Santa Claus is the next big thing.

Trick-or-Treat!

Halloween is one crazy ass holiday. It's an excuse to dress up, bond with strangers, purposely get scared and gain a massive sugar high. As a kid (up until an age that is a little embarrassing), my friends and I stalked the neighborhood with pillowcases to collect handfuls of candy. Ironically I don't even like American (cheapo) candy that much. Hit me up with the sugary chocolate they sell in Britain or Canada and I'm all over it. Still, there's something rewarding about dumping out a pile of candy at the end of the night and sorting it by chocolate, non-chocolate, and the "lame" pile. I'm not sure if the sorting thing is normal, I may have been a slightly OCD kid.

For Collin's first "real" Halloween, he dressed up as a sheriff with mom and dad as his prisoners. Side note: finding a women's prison outfit that was not skanked out proved to be an impossible feat but luckily I found a boy's costume that fit me. Trick-or-treating with my kid is not the time to look like I just walked out of Frederick's of Hollywood.








We ventured out to the 'burbs for a more family friendly neighborhood to go trick-or-treating with Collin's friend Hailey, who was dressed up as an adorable puppy. He also met Owen, aka Spiderman. The three toddlers were definitely some of the cutest trick-or-treaters out and were met with lots of "awwws."







The neighbors were in the Halloween spirit with fog, spooky music, screams and decorations from dancing pirates to hanging skeletons. Collin didn't seem too perturbed by the scary houses, so long as he got to collect his candy. Ringing the doorbell was probably his favorite part, and he pretty much froze whenever anyone opened the door. (Hailey spoke for the group with her cute little girl chant of "twick-or-tweat"). There were a few meltdowns when we tried to convince Collin to refrain from eating the candy as soon as he collected it. We caved in a couple times especially after he got a treasured lollipop.





Trick-or-treating lasted more than half hour and Collin collected a fair amount of candy. Well, it couldn't compare to my pillowcase days, not to brag...



I'm looking forward to many more Halloweens to come as a chaperone with Collin until that fateful day he insists on going by himself.

Oh the hilarity