Halloween, one of my favorite holidays as a parent. Yes it's true. Since I've been a mom I have a new appreciation for this Autumnal Feast day. When I was little I had so much fun trick or treating and carving Jack-o-lanterns with my grandmother. My friends and I would go out in a herd, and back then (the stone age) you could do that without much trouble. We knew when to be home and we'd go home to something cozy and warm, like soup or hot cider, and we'd sort out our candy and get all the makeup off and just relax. This was also when the Halloween booty was really something - homemade treats like little baggies of cookies, big red apples, carmel and candy apples, and the shinning star - homemade popcorn balls! You really had something if you got a carmel apple or a popcorn ball. That was treasure for sure. Those days are long gone. It's too bad, because I can remember my little grandmother making popcorn balls and carmel apples. We had such a good time doing that. We'd wrap them up in cellophane with ribbon. What a treat.
Now that I'm a parent I do special things for Kaysie, and we always make a night out of carving pumpkins. I remember the first time we did that - Kaysie was 2 years old. We had just moved into our current appartment and there was a pumpkin patch close by. We took our little Abby dog and went and picked out our pumpkins. I let Kaysie pick which ever ones she wanted and we carved them all. Big little and in between. I have some really sweet pictures of her scooping out pumpkin guts. She had the best time. That was also the year she was Tinkerbell. I made her wings out of irradescent cellophane and 18 gauge wire. They were so cool looking. I dressed up like Peter Pan and we were quite the pair. After that year she was Ariel, Mulan and Captain Jack Sparrow. It's always fun to see what she'll come up with. This year she was a cowgirl, and she looked so cute.
This year she came home from school and said she had to pay "Candy Taxes." Her teachers suggested that the kids pay "candy taxes" of 10% of her total haul. For her it was only 8 pieces of candy but she decided to take in 15 pieces since she's not really a candy person. I thought that was more than generous. What a good idea. They sometimes get candy for rewards at school, and what a fun way to keep the coffers full! I know I like that idea. We end up throwing out a bunch of candy that doesn't get eaten within a couple weeks. Kudos to Mrs. Wilson and Mr. LeFleur. Great thinking.
Me, I like to dress up and hand out candy. This year I dressed up in my best Sybil Trelwany outfit. Just incase you don't know - she's the Divination teacher at Hogwarts in the Harry Potter movies, played by none other than Emma Thompson. It's quite a transformation for both of us let me tell you. I had fun with it this year. I even ventured up to Walgreens for more candy all dolled up. Nobody batted an eye. I guess they are just used to odd balls in Portland!
I hope all of you had a great time this All Hallows Eve. Tomorrow is all Saint's Day. My favorite is of course Joan of Arc. Who's yours? Trick or Treat!
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