Evie's on the move! She's doing this crawling/walk thing that is just Hi-larious to see! Picture this... both hands and on one knee....... but instead of being on the other knee too, she has that leg bent up and her FOOT on the ground. Yep, that is apparently the preferred way to travel. :)
We've picked out our Halloween costumes for the upcoming holiday. Abby is going to be her first NON princess costume in three years.... she decided to go with a traditional witch costume. A long black dress with a high spider-web collar, a broom stick and a pointy witch's hat. She did go a step outside the box and request white face-paint to give herself the deathly pale look instead of the Lorne complexion. (Lorne..... as in Lorne Greene...... sigh. Angel fans would've gotten that one.)
Evie will be attending the festivities in a baby dragon costume that is both fuzzy and warm... perfect for the New England Halloweens that can be 60 degrees and full-moon clear or a buster 35 degrees with driving rain. I always feel bad for the kids who picked the skimpy little costumes on Halloween and the weather turns out freezing cold. They have to layer coats over their costumes and instead of looking like a mermaid, they end up looking like a Prom Queen in a Parka.
Speaking of Halloween nights, did you know that there are areas in the country, and even right here in our state, that DON'T go out Halloween night? Sure we all knew a few kids growing up that had the Halloween 'party' that night instead of trick-or-treating, but I'm talking about kids who's parents took them to the mall in costume or to a relatives house for a piece of candy.
Now I know that some of my friends and readers are going to say "Hey! I was one of those!" but that's not my point.... I just always find it amazing that a tradition so firmly rooted in our community and culture is also a tradition that is mutated by region and town and neighborhood. Some only go out in the daytime due to safety. Some don't go out at all.
To me, Halloween has always been a night of a quickie dinner like pizza followed by an hour of painstaking (ha, no pun intended.... vampire joke) costume preparation, bag/pillowcase/candy carrying apparatus check, and making sure that the 'rents weren't dressed in anything embarrassing before going out.
It should be noted that most of the younger parents (30's) also have beers stashed in the wagons or strollers. Look closely. Most of the fathers are hiding a brewsky behind their backs. This never fails to crack me up.
Halloween night is going out and hitting every single house in the neighborhood. Over 100 houses, separated by 2 acre lots..... it takes hours. It is dark, and most of the houses have fog machines and scary music blasting, mock graveyards are set up on the front lawns and little witches, goblins, princesses, pirates, power rangers and superheros are yelling 'Trick or Treat!!"
At the end, all of the kids gather at Grandma's house to review their 'Loot Take.' This is an sacred right on Halloween.
Only 4 weeks to go. I better go over our checklist and make sure we have the glow in the dark nail polish!
**********Special Note!!!*******************
If you do take your kids out on that night, please remember a GLOW STICK to hang on them or their candy bags. The Glow Necklaces and Bracelets also work well. This way you can always find your child even when they're ,running across a darkened landscape on a black night. It's safe and you will never be the parent yelling "Susie?!?!? Where are you?!?!?" while little Susie is now three houses down and a car is coming up the road.
We've picked out our Halloween costumes for the upcoming holiday. Abby is going to be her first NON princess costume in three years.... she decided to go with a traditional witch costume. A long black dress with a high spider-web collar, a broom stick and a pointy witch's hat. She did go a step outside the box and request white face-paint to give herself the deathly pale look instead of the Lorne complexion. (Lorne..... as in Lorne Greene...... sigh. Angel fans would've gotten that one.)
Evie will be attending the festivities in a baby dragon costume that is both fuzzy and warm... perfect for the New England Halloweens that can be 60 degrees and full-moon clear or a buster 35 degrees with driving rain. I always feel bad for the kids who picked the skimpy little costumes on Halloween and the weather turns out freezing cold. They have to layer coats over their costumes and instead of looking like a mermaid, they end up looking like a Prom Queen in a Parka.
Speaking of Halloween nights, did you know that there are areas in the country, and even right here in our state, that DON'T go out Halloween night? Sure we all knew a few kids growing up that had the Halloween 'party' that night instead of trick-or-treating, but I'm talking about kids who's parents took them to the mall in costume or to a relatives house for a piece of candy.
Now I know that some of my friends and readers are going to say "Hey! I was one of those!" but that's not my point.... I just always find it amazing that a tradition so firmly rooted in our community and culture is also a tradition that is mutated by region and town and neighborhood. Some only go out in the daytime due to safety. Some don't go out at all.
To me, Halloween has always been a night of a quickie dinner like pizza followed by an hour of painstaking (ha, no pun intended.... vampire joke) costume preparation, bag/pillowcase/candy carrying apparatus check, and making sure that the 'rents weren't dressed in anything embarrassing before going out.
It should be noted that most of the younger parents (30's) also have beers stashed in the wagons or strollers. Look closely. Most of the fathers are hiding a brewsky behind their backs. This never fails to crack me up.
Halloween night is going out and hitting every single house in the neighborhood. Over 100 houses, separated by 2 acre lots..... it takes hours. It is dark, and most of the houses have fog machines and scary music blasting, mock graveyards are set up on the front lawns and little witches, goblins, princesses, pirates, power rangers and superheros are yelling 'Trick or Treat!!"
At the end, all of the kids gather at Grandma's house to review their 'Loot Take.' This is an sacred right on Halloween.
Only 4 weeks to go. I better go over our checklist and make sure we have the glow in the dark nail polish!
**********Special Note!!!*******************
If you do take your kids out on that night, please remember a GLOW STICK to hang on them or their candy bags. The Glow Necklaces and Bracelets also work well. This way you can always find your child even when they're ,running across a darkened landscape on a black night. It's safe and you will never be the parent yelling "Susie?!?!? Where are you?!?!?" while little Susie is now three houses down and a car is coming up the road.
8 comments:
We in our 40's also carry beer stashes but we don't hide it. We used to use the stroller to carry that stuff. Now that the kids are older and don't need the stroller what are we to do.
Happy Halloween from the lion and the monkey
I find the stroller to come in handy for hauling the extra loot and the six pack of Sam Adams.
Just an idea, but when the kid's bags get really full, they tend to spill candy out when they trip/run/fall down driveways and pathways. In order to preserve the loot, periodically empty out the bag into an 'overflow' bag in the stroller. :) The overflow bag is also instrumental in taking care of Mommy and Daddy munchies.
My rule of thumb is if they can't carry it they won't be able to eat it. Stroller is strickly for beverage carting. My father had Walker going up to houses saying, "But I need two". My neighbors must think I have a pretty greedy kid.
LOL I remember when dad took us out he had an empty tumbler and when we would say, "trick or treat!" he would hold out his empty tumbler and usually received a small dram of whisky or scotch from the house we were at. heheh guess Halloween is BYOB now too? And remember we had to give dad first dibs...although now I look back on it he was more than likely checking it to make sure it was all safe vs. being the greedy parent we thought LOL....fun memories. hey,do you remember the year poor Don was a mummy and had about 6miles of gauze wrapped around him...he didn't get 20 feet out the door before he began to "unravel" *giggle* that was sooo funny,he looked like a shredded wad of debris by the time the night was over.
I remember 'skinny little arms and dirty paaaaawwwws.' I also remember a house full of siblings that stole the $100,000 bars out of my stash.
DOH! ehehheheh...ohhhhh yeeeaaahhh I kinda DO remember that *G*
but hey! at least we only chased you with the Mrs. Beazly doll when mom wasn't home. HA!
Oh, well, THANK YOU for THAT nightmare tonight!!
As Balancing Act can verify, in our neighborhood you wear a shotglass to one house to get your treat. The parents that is, the kids still get candy...
Love the Waling or Cwralking. Had a friend whose daughter used to scootch on her butt, but kept one leg straight and one knee bent. It was murder on the clothes. The wear spots were very strange!
Post a Comment