Our neighborhood puts the "Trick-or-Treat" in Halloween. Everyone gets so into it. The weekend before Halloween we always have a big costume, chili-bake off party in the neighborhood park. Even the adults dress up. This year we made the Washington Post newspaper which did a story on the event.
Then on Halloween night we all dress up again. So every year when it comes to treats, I keep thinking I should find some sort of fun thing to hand out instead of the traditional candy. However, every year I hand out candy as it's the easiest to do.
I grew up in a small town in Kansas, similar in look to our neighborhood in Virginia, but worlds apart in other ways. My mom spent weeks sewing costumes, putting out Halloween decorations and making popcorn balls for the trick-or-treaters. She'd wrap the balls in plastic bags and my brother and I would tie each one with an orange bow. And with every bow I tied, I'd wonder why she didn't just buy candy.
Then there was the year when a national news story reported someone was tampering with their homemade treats and a child swallowed a razor. Myth or not, it had an impact. Finally, my brother and I were so excited as we just knew we wouldn't have to tie bows leading up to Halloween. That was not the case. Instead my mom added a tag with a spooky greeting and our last name, so every parent would know where that popcorn ball came from. In a town of less than a 1,000 people your name is mark of credibility.
Every year my mom would run out of popcorn balls. EVERY YEAR! Which isn't a huge deal if it's 8:30-9:00o'clock at night. However, she would run out by 7:30. And instead of turning out the light, she would ask them to wait on the porch. or if it was too cold, invite them into the living room so she could cook more. My brother and I would make jokes leading up to Halloween razzing mom about running out of popcorn balls. Of course, that never helped because every year she would make more ahead of time and every year we would be stuck tying and tagging 25 more popcorn balls than we did the year before. Ultimately, we’d end up giving some of the store bought candy we ourselves earned trick or treating when even my mother could make no more popcorn balls.
I remember one year Jake and I hid our candy so mom couldn't find it to give away when the popcorn balls ran out. We thought we were so smart. NOT! Once again mom invited the trick or treat-ers in while she scrambled around our kitchen making MORE popcorn balls. And once again, we had a whole living room full of ghosts, goblins, witches, clowns, cowboys, Luke Skywalkers and Princess Leahs waiting for the infamous popcorn balls. She would always request the presence of my brother and me to "entertain" them. We made small talk and then we would all sit there and stare at each other. Sometimes she’d burn the popcorn and go to plan B (our candy). And that one year. since Jake and I had hid our candy (stolen by goblins we cried) she decided that would exact a penalty for fibbing and take pennies from our piggy banks - our life savings at the time. She bagged up five pennies in plastic bags and gave a bag to each trick or treater explaining they can come back and get a popcorn ball tomorrow. Most would not come back and instead opt for store bought candy; go figure.
Last night when O got home from trick or treating with her dad, cousins and friends, she helped hand out candy. However, she was not happy when she realized that daddy was taking from her stash because we were out. I didn't help much when she came to me and told me, as my response was, "Daddy is taking from all the candy you collected tonight?" To which she replied, "Yes and I worked hard for that candy."
My husband told me I wasn't helping. I apologized. I asked O what we should give away if we can't use her candy. She had a brilliant idea. She took out a piece of paper and a marker and made a sign. Here is what she wrote:
PLZ RITE UR NAM CUZ
WE R OWT OF CANDE
(PLEASE WRITE YOUR NAME CUZ WE ARE OUT OF CANDY)
Love this idea. It's sort of an IOU. We hung it on the door and turned off the light. It was nine o'clock and O was sugared up, but tired (that’s longhand for “cranky”).
As we walked to the bus stop this morning, she said, "Mommy, I had the best day yesterday! It was great! Oh and by the way mommy, I forgot to brush my teeth last night and this morning." UGH! Then I wondered what would be worse - no brushing after store bought candy or sugar smacked popcorn balls? Kindergarten SUCKS!
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