Ok, so now I am going to write that blog about Halloween which I started writing a few weekends ago and then got sidetracked on that other, more important subject, which you might remember.  I’m not saying in any way, however, that Halloween is not important, because it is.  Very important.  I love Halloween.

The only real tradition on Halloween is trick or treating and parties.  Who doesn’t like begging for candy or hiding behind an awesome costume in a social setting?  I suppose there are some on the far left and right of life that just can’t handle Halloween for their severe interpretations of the history of the day, but not our family.  We embrace it whole heartedly.  Most years, we go to the same neighborhood.  It is a large neighborhood, safe, with houses not too far apart.  The kids can run with wild abandon, from house to house, while their much pined for costumes, fall half off and the masks that are necessary for the look of the costume are removed, so basically, in my son’s case, who was Batman for a few years, he was running around in a big black body suit.   But that’s all part of the fun.  Sure there are some grumpy people in the neighborhood who aren’t psyched about the influx of the equivalent of the city of Worcester lined up at their front door, and that’s ok, they have the option to abide by the universal signal of a “no candy” house, by turning out their lights and most likely, hunkering down in the dark, grumbling about the state of the country.  Oh well.  There are enough generous people out there, some so big hearted that they even leave a big “help yourself” bucket of candy.  Hmmmm…

Not much has changed about Halloween since I was a kid.  I even trick or treated in college.  I dressed as a runner with the rest of my cross country team, and ran from house to house, bags open.  I often planned and/or designed my own costume, once even dressing as a pickle. I’ll explain.  Never.  My kids this year are going to be, from youngest to oldest, a thing 1 or 2 from Dr. Seuss, with a friend that will be the other of the things, my son is planning to be the grim reaper, and reap some grim until his curls get too sweaty and he’s running around in a black robe, my 16 year old daughter is getting the heee-eck out of dodge and heading to six flags for some sort of spooky town thing with her friends, and my oldest daughter, (18), will probably be seeing how much candy she can scam in her street clothes, walking along with the gang.  I’m looking forward to it.  Getting jacked up on sugar while out getting some exercise, is really awesome.

We come home and the candy is soon confiscated and hidden.  In my room.  For me to sample and check for razor blades.  So far, I’ve been pretty darn lucky and haven’t found any.  The wind down is rough and kids are up late.  This year, teachers everywhere in the country are down on their knees thanking their lucky stars that Halloween falls on a Friday and there is a two day buffer before the cracked out on candy kids, reenter the classrooms.  I know about this because my dear mother is a teacher.  Dentists, while openly encouraging kids to brush their teeth after eating all the candy and try to stay away from the sticky stuff, are goul-like, secretly wandering the streets, magically making sure as much candy is distributed as possible.  True story.

I encourage all you readers to get out there and enjoy this freebee holiday before we get nailed with more serious holidays, heavy with obligations involving family and friends.  If you ration out the kids candy, saving some for yourself, you may have just enough to get yourself and your children right through the holidays in pure sugar high bliss.   Right on!