How long did you trick or treat if you’re in a place that does that sort of thing? What age did you stop dressing up? If you don’t have younger siblings, did it all stop a bit earlier?
I ask, you see, because this is RR’s tenth Halloween. I feel like she only has a couple more before she becomes the weird older kid who shows up solo to get candy. It seems like the kids with younger siblings are able to trick or treat much longer than the ones who go alone or in a group of older kids. And yet, this Halloween, there’s no trick or treating for her.
Maybe most parents are letting their kids out but mine is in physical school and I don’t want her bringing her who knows what germs to every person who opens their door. I also won’t be opening my door because I don’t want to hand out candy to kids in the middle of a pandemic. Last year there was a terrible storm that almost canceled Halloween. If a storm could do it, a pandemic most certainly should.
So we’re taking her to our close friends house, an almost pod, if you will, for a two family Halloween party. We’re a big Halloween family so this both breaks my heart and delights me. I’ve always wanted RR to have a Halloween party. My birthday is the day before my mother’s in November so I always had Halloween parties instead of birthday parties (nice, mom) and I have very fond memories of them.
I don’t have any judgement for the folks handing out candy or going trick or treating. In fact, I’m partly sorry I won’t be home to participate. It makes me sad for the kids that are going that there might be fewer houses. Definitely there will be fewer in our neighborhood where there are signs up recommending the kids participate in a socially distanced parade to show off costumes and get candy.
Also, can we talk about ready-made costumes for pre-teen girls? IT’S A WHOLE OTHER WORLD. There’s are jokes about putting sexy in front of everything for adults – sexy Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, sexy nurses, and so on. This year my kid wanted to go as an angel but guess what? SEXY ANGELS. She went with a “dark angel” whatever that is, which turned down the sexy but still you guys, next year I’m making her costume.
Filed under: Eleventh Year | Tagged: covid19, holidays, introducing rr |
Counting Chickens 
Halloween is my favorite. Not gonna lie, the year the girl decided to go trick or treat with friends and not me was harder than no more Santa at Christmas. I adore trick or treating – I took my younger siblings, in costumes I made them, until I went off to college. In college, I still made costumes for everyone I knew. I used to throw a party at the park every Halloween until my own kid outgrew it. I am still known to trick or treat with the dog, but I keep it to houses of neighbors who get how much I love trick or treating. At least one of them always buys me full size Butterfingers (the other has airplane minis of bourbon for me).
The dad of the twins across the street has announced he’s taking them trick or treating, so I absolutely will have goodie bags laid out at a safe distance for them and any other kids that brave the streets this year. But it really stinks that Halloween is getting cancelled two years in a row.
My oldest decided 12 was his last year. This year we bought a bag of halloween candy and are going to divide it between them. They’re happy.
We’re not handing out candy this year because our neighborhood is full of covid-denying trump supporters so it doesn’t seem safe. I was thinking about leaving out a bowl of candy but then remembered that unlike where I grew up, the kids here double fist the candy if you let them pick what to take.