Trick or treating for the new millennium
Went out with #5 tonight, along with two of the neighbor kids. Got the feeling I was persona non grata (the plea to “Walk behind us” was my first clue). Although since I ended up doing the pack mule thing with the candy when it got too heavy, they can’t complain too loudly.
Anyway, although the air was still tinged with the tang of fireplace smoke, and boys still opt for the scary look while the girls tend to go the sparkly princess route, I noticed a few differences between this year and, say, five years ago.
1. One of the kids kept having to end his cell phone calls to call out “Trick or Treat.”
2. Instead of walking with their kids, at least half the parents crept along beside them in their minivans.
3. The handcarved real pumpkin is slowly being usurped by the plug-in kind. Not that I hold this against anyone — after yesterday’s experience, fake pumpkins are looking damn good to me, too. But still.
The weirdest thing though, were the hordes of outsiders swarming the neighborhood. Granted, for years there’s been a tradition of bussing in kids from other neighborhoods to the posher areas, like down by the Country Club. Rumor has it those folks give out FULL SIZE Snickers bars and the like. But our neighborhood is hardly posh. Nice, neat and pretty enough, but mostly filled with young families in still in the infatuation stage with their first mortgage, or retirees who’ve paid off their mortgage ten years ago. Most folks around here aren’t “movin’ on up” as much as they’re just grateful to be able to keep from sliding backwards. So how we’re suddenly considered prime pickin’s for the Halloween goodies, I do not know.
In any case, it’s all over for another year. Pumpkins have been extinguished, kid is in blissful sugar shock, and Mom is so ready to keel over. On to Christmas, with that hiccup along the way known as Thanksgiving.
Which reminds me — six more catalogs came today. The more I toss, the more land in my mailbox. Shades of The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. . .
Happy Halloween!
My dh is still out of the country, so it was mostly me who handed out the treats, along with my son, who is several years past trick or treating — past trick or treating, but not past dressing up. He answered the door in a black leather jacket with lots of zippers, white sleeveless tee, knee-length black cargo shorts with a white leather belt, twenty hole Doc Martin black leather boots, and his hair spiked into a spectacular mohawk!
We live in the same kind of neighborhood as yours I imagine — some retirees but mostly young professional couples and young families, so it was a lot of fun to see the little ones in their costumes — way more elaborate and cooler than the Woolworth costumes I grew up with, LOL.
Most of the parents waited on the sidewalk (if their kids were old enough to walk up to the door by themselves) although there were a few who followed in their vehicles. We have our share of outsiders too, but thankfully, no hordes.
One little fairy princess in a pink feather boa came up to the door while Mom and Dad watched, and as she reached for the candy in the bowl I held out, I told her to take two, and she said, and I quote, “Sweet!” She couldn’t have been more than five years old — I almost laughed out loud. And then as she was walking away with her family, she paused and looked back up into the doorway at my son and said, “Nice mohawk.” I cracked up!
I told one little girl what a pretty Princess she made, and she haughtily informed me she was a “QUEEN.” I replied, “Excuse me, Your Majesty,” — on the inside, LOL! That’s what I get for guessing.
I do think the car following the kidlet(s) is weird though — what’s up with that?
My son carved a really cool pumpkin and we gave out a ton of candy (we had a steady stream for about two hours) and had more than a ton of fun enjoying the parade.
Now the boisterous voices are quiet, our pumpkin is safely glowing on the hearth and I’m relaxing with some knitting. It was another happy Halloween.
Carol
Comment by Carol — November 1, 2005 @ 7:32 am