It's no secret I am not a fan of Halloween. The truth is, my disdain for this holiday grows every year until I am now at the point of deciding our family is absolutely NOT following traditional Halloween rituals ever again. Now, I know that sounds harsh and maybe even a bit ridiculous, but the thought occurred to me that if following the expected traditions of the world is making me so unhappy and unsettled, why on earth should I keep doing them? I realize there are many, many people (I am definitely in the minority on this one) who love this spooky holiday, and I think that's great. But since I am not one of them, I have decided to celebrate differently from now on (and I'm hopeful my kids will still turn out OK--ha!)
This Halloween happened to be one of our worst ever. It might have had something to do with the fact that I was ill-prepared for it. I had done little to no planning, and as everyone knows, that is usually a recipe for disaster. Since our family made the decision we are going to stay in a hotel in Rexburg for Thanksgiving this year, going that route for Halloween, like we did last year, was not very realistic. Therefore, I decided to simply go with the flow and borrowed a couple of costumes for Regyn and Boston from my mother-in-law's playroom wardrobe. Berkley is over the moon crazy about My Little Pony right now, so I splurged and actually bought her a Rainbow Dash costume.She loved it and looked adorable in it, I have to say. Dan, on the other hand, couldn't get over all the glitter that managed to fall from the costume and sprinkle itself all over our house.
The one thing my kids (at least the three younger ones) actually enjoy is going to Dan's work at H&R Block the day before Halloween and doing a quick Trick-or-Treat session from desk to desk. I actually don't mind this tradition either and especially like how it is indoors and we get to say hi to all of Dan's co-workers. Boy, oh boy, do we get a loot of candy in no time! That's when I'm left to ponder what on earth to do with all the candy. We collected this huge bowl of candy in about a half hour's time. Wow!
Halloween morning actually started out fabulously. Dan's parents were in town and we had all gotten together with some new (old) friends who just moved back to Utah from New Hampshire the evening before. It was so much fun eating and talking together--our families really hit it off (which is especially great since Hallee actually asked their son Zack to the Christmas Dance coming up next month--more on that later). After a fun-filled Friday evening together, we all decided to go to breakfast together Halloween morning before my in-laws and their in-laws (who just happened to be great friends and traveled from Cache Valley here together) had to go back home. I wish I had pictures of the event. We ended up in our own large banquet room, with three large round (yes round) tables slid together to form one big long breakfast set-up. We had a fabulous breakfast together before heading home to decide what else to do for our Halloween.
Unfortunately, I had a migraine--a really bad one--and crashed right when we got home. I snuggled up on the couch and never left it the rest of the day. My poor children entertained themselves all day and then made their own plans with friends to go trick-or-treating. Actually, Dan and Nate went to Ogden to watch the last of the city football games of the season, Hallee spent most of her time upstairs in her bedroom listening to music and doing homework, while Regyn and Boston figured out a trick-or-treating plan. Poor little Berkley didn't even get to go at all since her dad was gone and her mom was a mess of a person laid out on the couch.
Not the best scenario for Halloween. Poor Boston realized he had left his costume in Dan's car and went out the door without a costume or a candy bag. Thankfully, the neighbors helped out and when he came home a couple hours later, he had on a wizard costume and carried a pillowcase full of candy. Our family had decided we were at least going to watch a movie together when everyone got home--around 8:00 p.m. Unfortunately, even though I had already slept for four hours during the day, I could not stay up a minute longer and I ended up going to bed. Talk about family togetherness! Ha!
All I can say is my last thought before drifting off to sleep was how grateful I was that when I woke up, Halloween would be over and I wouldn't have to think about it for a whole nother year! It had been a rough night. Since I had a terrible headache, I told the kids to put a bowl of candy out on the porch with a sign to take some, hoping nobody would ring our doorbell. That little tactic did not work (apparently, most Halloweeners are small children who do not yet know how to read). The doorbell still rang constantly, and every time it did, our sweet little dog would start yelping as loudly as he could. Not the best cure for a mirgraine, I tell you. I finally told Berkley to turn off all lights--outside and inside--hoping it would look like we were not home. So sad, I know. Aren't you glad you are not my neighbor??? I am one pathetic Halloween neighbor!
I am determined next year will be better. Why? Because we are going to do our own thing! I am going to be prepared, and by golly, we are going to spend some time together as a family! I'm also hoping for no migraine next time--that would definitely help our situation. The good news is, as awful as my children's mother was at planning and carrying out a fun-filled holiday, my kids still love me and think I'm almost great. That's what I love about kids!
