Friends say we have the good fortune of living in a neighborhood that is yearly overrun with trick or treaters. But I wasn’t planning on handing out candy this year. Last year I left Halloween with a bad taste in my mouth because around 8-9pm our doorbell was ringing off the hook with trick or treaters that were too old and too plain clothed. Uninterested in supporting this behavior, I was prepared to turn off all the lights and hide inside for 2007, but Evan felt like we needed to have some candy on hand, so we picked up some mini Reese’s and Kit Kat’s at the store and prepared our treat bowl. It wasn’t long before the doorbell rang… and it didn’t take much of a pause until 8pm when we left the house. It’s kind of amazing to check out the scene. We live in a cul-de-sac, so cars and vans pull in and dump the kids out to run around the cul-de-sac. At one point, we had at least 5 cars lined up in the cul-de-sac. From about 6:15pm to 7:30pm, we were handing out treats to 5-8 year olds dressed as lizards and cheerleaders and ghosts, but similar to last year, as the night creeped on, we had some high schoolers and two parents stop by – one that had already come by earlier with a kid, came back for more by herself! The other parent was with a kid, but had his own bag. Needless to say, when we left the house around 8pm I was glad that we weren’t around to see the quality of trick or treaters deteriorate any further. Maybe it’s a little harsh, and that’s probably because I have a mini chip on my shoulder about trick or treating. I wasn’t allowed to trick or treat as a kid, instead we headed to the Reformation Day Celebration at church, where I dressed up as Esther (from the Bible) for 5 years in a row.
