Halloween is still the traditional Halloween of my childhood, here in New Brighton, MN. The only difference is that it's completely socially acceptable for teen agers to continue trick or treating. When I was a kid, everyone just sort of agreed that the cut-off should be around your 13th birthday.
Two days earlier, we laid newspaper all over the kitchen table, our children drew faces on 3 pumpkins, and my husband and I carved the two big ones, while for the first time, our 13 year old carved a little one of her own, and it came out great!
Yesterday we placed those jack-o-lanterns in the front yard, with candles in them. It's dark here by 5:30, so by 6:00 we already had little groups of children ringing the doorbell. Darth Vadar was still a very popular costume, this year. Once we get our first trick-or-treaters, then we figure it's OK for us to go out…but we had to wait for my husband to come home from work. One of us needs to take the kids out, and the other one needs to stay home and hand out candy to the other children.
He finally arrived, and I took my little Simba, and my big Japanese Anime Character Nobody's Ever Heard Of (Hatsu-Haru ?) trick or treating down the block. It was so cold , my daughter ran home after about a block, to get mittens! When she caught back up with us, she trick or treated a house my son and I had just been to. When she returned to us, my son asked her , in a very mocking tone, "Diiiiid yeeeeww saaaay thaaaank yeeewww??" I realized I'd said to both of them after almost every house we'd been to. So I shut up after that. Yes, they said thank you. I don't need to double check.
We walked down our own street, filled with families with children, all dressed in costumes, laughing and running around. I always think its funny when someone opens their front door, but not their screen door, then hands candy out the missing screen. What's the use of that screen door then? Someone had a VAN of about 8 children, they'd park the van, the kids would all come running out like a halloween-costumed SWAT team, they'd trick or treat a few houses , as the van followed them, then they'd all return to the van and drive to the next block. I have no idea what was behind that. It was pretty unusual. Unless they have a handicapped child , I suspect they were "cheating" the weather, which violates the spirit of Halloween in Minnesota, a little bit.
We also remembered to avoid, this year, the house that keeps their porch light on, but hands out religious tracts about how Halloween is evil. What is those people's problem? Keep your porch light off, if you think that. When I was a kid , we had a house on the block just like that, too.
I wore a black cape and a pink wig. I have no idea what I was supposed to be, but we did have them laying around, so I put them on.
We arrived at my daughter's friend's house, and, as planned she took off with a group of unsupervised fellow pre-teens. I HATE THAT, but none of the other parents seem to see anything wrong with it. I took my son down a different street , on the return trip. One family hands out a can of pop!
My on-line friend from California told me that it's still so warm on Halloween, that every family opens their garage, and that you trick or treat at their open garage door, and the residents hand out candy to the children,and WINE to the adults. I was surprised by that. Then this morning the radio announcers were saying that at some houses they'd taken their children to, when the resident opened the door, they invited the children in to their living room for candy, and the grown up in for a 'drink!.' So in spite of the weather, it sounds like that new tradition is heading our way, here in Minnesota, too. I'm a straight-edge, and I always have been, so it won't do me any good.
The can of pop from the "pop" house made my son's plastic pumpkin-shaped trick or treat basket so heavy, he didn't even want to stop at any of the houses on that last block as we got closer to home. My kids dumped their candy out and sorted it, while we watched Tim Burton's Nightmare before Christmas on DVR. Trick or treaters continued to ring our doorbell until about 8:30 or so.
Every year, including this year, the occasional trick or treater will greet one of my children by name, and say "I didn't know you live here!" It's because Halloween is the only day you actually go around the neighborhood and visit neighbors, which is actually kind of sad!
Two days earlier, we laid newspaper all over the kitchen table, our children drew faces on 3 pumpkins, and my husband and I carved the two big ones, while for the first time, our 13 year old carved a little one of her own, and it came out great!
Yesterday we placed those jack-o-lanterns in the front yard, with candles in them. It's dark here by 5:30, so by 6:00 we already had little groups of children ringing the doorbell. Darth Vadar was still a very popular costume, this year. Once we get our first trick-or-treaters, then we figure it's OK for us to go out…but we had to wait for my husband to come home from work. One of us needs to take the kids out, and the other one needs to stay home and hand out candy to the other children.
He finally arrived, and I took my little Simba, and my big Japanese Anime Character Nobody's Ever Heard Of (Hatsu-Haru ?) trick or treating down the block. It was so cold , my daughter ran home after about a block, to get mittens! When she caught back up with us, she trick or treated a house my son and I had just been to. When she returned to us, my son asked her , in a very mocking tone, "Diiiiid yeeeeww saaaay thaaaank yeeewww??" I realized I'd said to both of them after almost every house we'd been to. So I shut up after that. Yes, they said thank you. I don't need to double check.
We walked down our own street, filled with families with children, all dressed in costumes, laughing and running around. I always think its funny when someone opens their front door, but not their screen door, then hands candy out the missing screen. What's the use of that screen door then? Someone had a VAN of about 8 children, they'd park the van, the kids would all come running out like a halloween-costumed SWAT team, they'd trick or treat a few houses , as the van followed them, then they'd all return to the van and drive to the next block. I have no idea what was behind that. It was pretty unusual. Unless they have a handicapped child , I suspect they were "cheating" the weather, which violates the spirit of Halloween in Minnesota, a little bit.
We also remembered to avoid, this year, the house that keeps their porch light on, but hands out religious tracts about how Halloween is evil. What is those people's problem? Keep your porch light off, if you think that. When I was a kid , we had a house on the block just like that, too.
I wore a black cape and a pink wig. I have no idea what I was supposed to be, but we did have them laying around, so I put them on.
We arrived at my daughter's friend's house, and, as planned she took off with a group of unsupervised fellow pre-teens. I HATE THAT, but none of the other parents seem to see anything wrong with it. I took my son down a different street , on the return trip. One family hands out a can of pop!
My on-line friend from California told me that it's still so warm on Halloween, that every family opens their garage, and that you trick or treat at their open garage door, and the residents hand out candy to the children,and WINE to the adults. I was surprised by that. Then this morning the radio announcers were saying that at some houses they'd taken their children to, when the resident opened the door, they invited the children in to their living room for candy, and the grown up in for a 'drink!.' So in spite of the weather, it sounds like that new tradition is heading our way, here in Minnesota, too. I'm a straight-edge, and I always have been, so it won't do me any good.
The can of pop from the "pop" house made my son's plastic pumpkin-shaped trick or treat basket so heavy, he didn't even want to stop at any of the houses on that last block as we got closer to home. My kids dumped their candy out and sorted it, while we watched Tim Burton's Nightmare before Christmas on DVR. Trick or treaters continued to ring our doorbell until about 8:30 or so.
Every year, including this year, the occasional trick or treater will greet one of my children by name, and say "I didn't know you live here!" It's because Halloween is the only day you actually go around the neighborhood and visit neighbors, which is actually kind of sad!
