So I get to go a different direction for this spin. Jen asked how Halloween is different from when I was a kid. Looking at the variety of places we can take the boys to get candy, I'd say there has been an extension of the holiday. I could take both boys to the pediatricians office Friday, downtown on Saturday morning, to the university union, frat mall, and the campus cafeteria on Monday evening, and also take them normal trick or treating. That is a heck of a lot of free candy. I know most of those are so you don't have to take your kid trick or treating. And we took advantage of some of them when Turbo was little--too little to really go trick or treating. But to the older kid, most of those options are a bit lame and there is no getting out of trick or treating.
Trick or treating was the best part of Halloween. However I only did a bit of it as a kid. We lived outside of town and a half mile between houses did deter the whole walking around for trick or treat. Add in the fact that we usually had snow on the ground by Halloween and inside activities were far more appealing. We did do the church Halloween "carnival" for a few years, but by the time I was probably 13 I was done trick or treating and really done celebrating Halloween.
Until I got to college. That's when going to Halloween parties got to be a bit fun again. I went to a couple and then just kind of dressed up for work when I could and got the cheap candy that was in the store--for the possibility of trick or treaters, not so I could munch on mini candy bars or anything. Things really got more fun--from the other side of the bowl--when we got our first house. We would make sure to have the pumpkin out and the light on to see who and what would come to the door. True, there were years when the face was drawn on the pumpkin with a marker because that's all we had time for with work and school, but we always had one.
Actually, that was the one really consistent element to Halloween. We always carved a pumpkin--the only years I didn't were the two years I lived in the dorms. Lots of jack-o-lanterns. We got creative with them--Nick being artistic an all. Then they came out with those great carving kits that make making pumpkin masterpieces easy.
We are pumpkin carving with family this weekend and Turbo is excited--he's old enough to wield the pumpkin saws this year--mostly on his own--with lots of supervision of course.
Have a happy or spooky Halloween!
You need to post pictures of your masterpieces for us all to see!
ReplyDeletePumpkin carving sounds like fun! (I hate to admit, we have not purchased a pumpkin this year.)
ReplyDeleteSprite will not be trick or treating this year through the neighborhood since 1. Halloween is on a school night, 2. it's very dark in our neighborhood, no real street lights, 3. she's getting enough candy at the two parties she's going to, do we really need more?
You're linked!
I second Mama Badger's motion to have you post pictures of the masterpieces! :)
ReplyDeleteWe used to carve pumpkins as a family, too - for some reason we haven't done that with Princess Nagger (though every year I buy one of those pumpkin carving kits, and every year I stash it and forget where it's stashed. So I have at least 3 or 4 stashed somewhere. Hiding from me). :)
Halloween - Then and Now
You totally need to post pics! Although I am late reading this so maybe you already have LOL.
ReplyDeleteWe painted pumpkins this year instead of carving... it wasn't quite as mess free as I was hoping it to be. Haaa.