We've lived in this house for seven years, and we never get trick-or-treaters. The first year we put out lights and a jack-o-lantern and bought candy and were so excited, and then only three kids came to the door. No one else on our street even had their lights on, and we found out all the kids go to another part of the neighborhood. After that, I'd still buy candy but then no one would come and we'd be stuck with a bag of candy I really didn't want to eat. We never had anyone knock on the door after that first year, and I stopped buying candy altogether.
Last night I was talking to my friend on the phone and she was saying they had way too much candy because they hadn't gotten any trick-or-treaters and it was almost 7pm. When I told her no one comes to our house on Halloween, she asked if I'd bought candy "just in case." Then she said someone was knocking on their door, and AT THE EXACT SAME TIME I heard a knock on our door.
I answered the door to find two little girls dressed as corpse brides, calling out "Trick or Treat!" I felt awful. I knew there was no candy in the house. I told them to wait a minute and I scrounged through the pantry and found some fruit leathers and in the refrigerator I found two juice paks that had been left in there by friends. I came back and said, "I'm so sorry to be the lame lady who's giving you juice and fruit leather" and they actually squealed. "I LOVE fruit leather!" and "I LOVE apple juice!" Hysterical. Then while I was talking to their father about where to go from there since our whole area was dark, they had already broken into the juice paks.
Sometimes I regret not having children. They can be so cute. I love their enthusiasm, and the way they can make the best of things. And the way it really doesn't take that much to make them happy. We can all learn a lot from kids.
Did you go trick-or-treating with your kids last night or hand out candy? What were some of the most creative or funny costumes you saw?
November 1, 2009
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6 comments:
We stayed in and we didn't buy any candy.It was the first time I can remember that we didn't carve a pumpkin and have candy.
It's not too late to still have kids!
Although I sometimes think you can enjoy other peoples kids more than they do...without all the heartache.
You get to have a person to person relationship rather than an authoritative one,that's much more pleasant.
We don't have young kids. I bought granola bars this year and 19 kids came by even though we didn't have an ouside light on. Usually they had their parents with them. Our street got less than half the usual number of kids -- probably because of concerns over H1N1.
One young lad went as a Hershey Kiss. He was challenging folks to guess what he was and getting a kick out of their guesses. The costume was mylar over a bustle kind of frame, but not too wide. His head was totally out of the costume so he could see clearly.
Our church does a Fall Festival and each of the adult Sunday School classes "mans" a booth where the kids play a game and then get to choose their prize, which can be candy, pencils, stickers, plastic rings, etc. They also have cake walks and prize drawings, a clown (who happens to be my best friend), and hotdogs, chips for $.50. I love doing this because I get to see lots of kids (and sometimes grownups) dressed up and having a great time. It is open to the whole community and it is generally very well attended. I don't have kids (never been married) and my dog doesn't care to dress up, so this is great fun for me.
Cute story. I'll try to be more excited next time I'm offered a juice box. ;-)
I only had three knocks on my door this year - and one knock was from my kids. My street isn't especially well lit or exuberent about Halloween (no decorations) - so I think the kids go elsewhere?
Kate- I enjoy our niece and nephew (although wish we had more!) and lots of friend's kids.
annet- Did they like the granola bars? I'll bet some kids would. The Hershey Kiss sounds very creative.
Audra- I'm so sorry about your daughter, I hope she's okay now. But you sure got to see a lot of great costumes! I love the originality, and that they're not all "contemporary pop culture" figures. Mr. Rogers- that's great! I think my husband could pull that off if we could find a cardigan...
Carol- It sounds like you've found a great way to share in the fun! And I'm glad that you don't subject your dog to a costume since he doesn't enjoy it. Some dogs are hams, some aren't.
Kate- Yeah, the juice boxes had been in there so long, but I think I'd checked the dates recently... I think they're filled with preservatives, yikes. I think the kids do tend to go where there a lot of houses, a lot of lights, and a lot of other kids. It's gotten away from the part where you're supposed to sort of "show" your kid's costumes to your neighbors.
Thanks for sharing your stories, everyone!
PERFECT treats! We had 40 or so visitors and I actually ran out of candy and had to turn my light off. Thank goodness I ran out of candy. Last year, we had no one and I ate the left overs.
Not good...
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