Back to Halloween…

Peanut had a great time. He wore his costume for a good bit of the day at daycare. He enjoyed it so much, they told him he had to take it off before he could eat lunch in order to get him out of it and without starting WW III.

Once we got home, it was another story. He wanted to play with Daddy’s airplanes and radio, dinner and Halloween be screwed. He never did eat dinner (which we later realized was because of his cold/cough/wheezing) and Daddy finally cajoled him into his costume after explaining trick-or-treating involves going outside and receiving candies. They made the rounds of the whole neighborhood, much to my surprise. Peanut wasn’t in the least bit scared and would happily notice things like shoes peaking out from under a scary costume. He was mightily impressed with one yard display including some scary thing or other with lighted red eyes. He loved it and told Daddy all about the red eyes.

After lightening our neighbors' candy loads, he had a great time helping me lighten ours. Each time the doorbell rang, he ran excitedly over to check out all the kids.

I only had a couple smartasses get mouthy over our candy quality/quantity. It’s funny how they’re always boys in the 10-14 age range. Nearly all the girls were polite and most said thank you. Anyway, the one little smartass told me he was to get 2 pieces of candy. I gave everyone at least 2 anyway. One of his candies was too small for his liking, so he told me he would get another. I smiled, told him he already had his 2 candies and when he started asking what I was going to do about it, I smiled again, told him good night and shut the door. He seemed surprised with my response. Whatever.

The best “rude” kid was a little pumpkin of about 18 months who looked at me, pointed at his candy bag, and blurted “Uhhhhh!” I cracked up and his mom apologized. Little dude was making sure I knew where to put the candy.


My dad inadvertently scared one of his trick-or-treaters. A group of kids came to the door and Dad doled out the goods. One little guy held back and after he got his loot he held out a UNICEF box and asked for change. Dad had no clue what it was for, assumed it was for a school sports team, and sternly told him “Candy only, no change,” chunked another handful of candy in his bucket, and closed the door. Stepmom filled him in on the purpose of UNICEF boxes.