Trick or Treat!

Tonight is the "officially declared by the neighborhood association" time for Trick or Treat. An hour into the "designated time', I had 7 tricksters demanding treats at the door.

Now, I am not complaining. We live in a subdivision, however the smallest lot is 3 acres--so it is not only a long walk between houses, but also a long walk up (and down) each driveway. The first year we lived here, people brought their children and grandchildren to trick or treat on their lawn tractors, golf carts, ATV's etc.
Silly to us at first, but I suppose it is really the only practical way to supervise the children without collapsing in exhaustion. I am amazed that any kid would make the effort to walk for some candy these days!

We have had a butterfly and (I think) Marilyn Monroe--both about 13. The butterfly lives across the street. They were followed (45 minutes later) by a group of early adolescent boys--a banana, a hobo, and what looked like a teen age kid holding a pillow case..wonder whose idea the banana was?. One of them is the brother of Marilyn Monroe I think--but don't ask me which one... They were appreciative of the sugary goodies I doled out--being grateful I suppose that I gave each a handful, not just one thing.

Next a mini van drove up the driveway. Elvis and his sister, the princess, were about 4th grade and 1st grade respectively. The princess had difficulty with the dress and the mini van door--causing shreeks! Elvis was wearing his white suit, and exclaimed how much he liked animal crackers....I also gave Dad a Kit-Kat--knew it was going to be a long night for him!

In the "good old days", when our kids were little, we lived in a subdivision where you could practically touch the house next door. We had 13 five year olds at our kindergarten bus stop the first year we lived there. The next year brought a new baby in almost every house. We got hundreds of trick or treaters per hour in those days.....Thousands all together! Little ones, big ones, clutching plastic pumpkins or pillowcases. We went for quantity, not quality in those days--buying huge bags of whatever Meijers had on sale!

Our kids would make several trips--do a street, dump the bag. Do another block, dump the bag again. Sometimes, then even took the time to sort it, and dump what they didn't like back into the trick or treat bowl, to be "recycled". Dad and I took turns going out with them, or in the years that he was traveling, another work widow mom and I would tag team them. We had Halloween candy through valentines day! When the kids were young adolescents and big enough to "do" trick or treat without mon/dad, they would see how many subs they could "do" with their friends--starting with the home sub of each. We had Halloween candy past Easter.

I have a soft spot for the cute little ones. Little pumpkins, rabbits, and witches who can barely pronounce trick or treat. I used to give out spider rings, spooky erasers, fake plastic teeth, etc. from the novelty store in keeping with my "nutrition" background. Over the years, it became easier to go to the fast food coupons, and now that I have some left over every year, we have gone to the candy bars. I try not to buy any that I like--but then no one else likes Clark Bars much either in my estimation. This year, we have smarties, nerds, Kit-Kats, and for the little ones cute little bags of animal crackers. For myself, I bought a bag of Pay-Days.

90 minutes into this and kids number 8-11 arrived. The fat lady at the circus, a hockey player, a boy in a black hooded thing (more like the gouhl without the mask) and a girl in an old navy shirt, who looked amazingly like Marilyn Monroe without the wig --and who offered a little too hastily that she really had not already been here.....they arrived via lawn tractor pulling a cart, which I suppose might make it worthwhile to come back if you had the chance to ride.

No blood, guts, or particularly clever outfits. Of course the average age of the trick or treaters so far has been 12.

I suppose it is different these days. My kids predated the X-raying of Halloween candy. Parents knew everyone on the block, and in neighborhoods, somebody always knew the other residents. Today people come and go, and I never even notice. I have met the neighbors twice at a homeowners meeting. I know a few by sight, a couple by name. I am more likely to be able to come up with what they do for a living than their name. Society is definitely different. The news had a featurette on how to look up who the sexual predators were in your neighborhood before you went out for trick or treat.

Like I said, I am amazed that the kids even bother.....