Well... minus the part where people saturate the world with pictures of spiders. Come on, people! There are so many options. Why spiders???
But, I've always loved the traditions that go along with it, especially the part where you dress up in the most ridiculous and/or creative and/or fangirliest outfit you can concoct, and go door to door gathering enough candy to make Willy Wonka vomit.
I trick-or-treated until I was 18 or 19 and my dad started giving me crap about being too old for it. But honestly, I didn't consider myself too old. I still thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it, and could see no reason why I should stop enjoying myself. Besides, at the age of 18 I still looked like a 12 or 13 year old, and on top of that, I was accompanying my 11 and 14 year old brothers, which made me look even younger. Nobody had to know!
But, I caved to the peer pressure. Some time around or before my 20th birthday, I gave up on the glorious institution that is trick-or-treating.
It was a devastating loss. As I went to college, Halloween was nothing more than parties that weren't based around candy and therefore not fun, & church dances where I was usually ready to go home after 30 minutes of not having anyone to dance with. I did enjoy dressing up, and I did quite a lot of that, but I still wished the kids in student housing would figure out what life was really about and keep bowls of candy in their apartments for me to come raid.
And somehow, buying all the 50% off candy on November 1st, while a great deal on individually wrapped diabetes, just wasn't the same.
Last year I got to spend Halloween with kids again. I was home to help my mom with her surgery, and two of my nieces were there. I went with them to the church trunk-or-treat activity, where I handed out candy to swarms of hyperactive ninjas, Avengers, princesses, and Batmen. It was a LOT of fun, and as I watched the kids assault my candy bowl with vigor and enthusiasm, I told myself I was happy in my new role. I could do nothing more than hand out candy and be perfectly content.
And that was a blatant lie to myself. Yes, I could hand out candy and enjoy myself, but truth be told, I want to be out there on the streets, gathering the booty and bringing home my spoils.
The instant I have a baby, I don't care if he or she is 3 weeks old, we are spending baby's first Halloween trick-or-treating. I will dress my mini-me up in the cutest baby costume I can concoct - so cute no one will DARE to ask, "Aren't you a little young for trick-or-treating?" - and I will hit up all the good houses, loading up my bucket of candy for that baby.
And, of course, there's only one way for a nursing baby to eat candy...
*sigh*
Some day.
Halloween was not made for adults.
No comments:
Post a Comment