Trick-or-Treat

I love Halloween.  I loved it as a kid.  I love it now.  I know what your thinking, every kid loves Halloween because of the candy, but for me that wasn't it.  I almost always had candy left over from the previous year.  I didn't particularly like to go trick-or-treating either, probably because of the Colorado climate.  The year I came home, my clown costume ruined by my orange hair die and the rain/snow that fell from the sky is just one example of the aforementioned climate.  What I loved, still love, was the costumes and dressing up.  I remember having the best costumes as a kid.  We didn't buy them, they were always homemade, and so much better for of it. 

Some of my favorites include, The Little Mermaid and Geordi La Forge from Star Trek.  My Little Mermaid costume was made from scratch by my mother and to my exact specifications.  There was to be none of the skin colored fabric used in ice skating costumes to make it warmer and it was to be as close to the movie as possible.  She succeeded and it was perfect, so much better than all the other girls'.  I do however distinctly remember freezing my butt off and being exhausted from walking so far in such a tight skirt. 

More of my best memories come from our Star Trek year.  I was Geordi La Forge and my sister was Counselor Deanna Troi.  The memories of this year don't stem from the trick-or-treating, I don't even really remember wearing the costume that clearly, what I do remember is the making of them.  It was a family event.  My mom did the sewing and my dad made us tricorders and com badges.  The tricorders could be found in our toy box for many years after.  They were made out of wood and spray paint; Dad even printed out graphs on his computer in COLOR.  None of the other kids had anything like that, most kids didn't even have access to a computer, let alone a color printer.  We even made Geordi's visor using a banana hair clip, spray paint, elastic, and some stick on jewels.  We always had the best costumes because we made them together.

Because of these happy memories you may understand my distress at my kids' costumes this year.  I now understand how lucky I was to have such loving and creative parents.  I did use a little creativity with Peanut's and my costume but Boo went in just his "Captain Adorable" pajamas.  He really was cute despite my lack of time and creativity but I will have to find a way to carry on the happy memories for my kids in the years to come. 

Peanut and I went as a spider and web.  I took a white t-tunic and couched black thread in the shape of a spider's web for me then dressed her all in black; I even knit her an adorable black hat.  I pinned some stuffed socks to her hip carrier and we were ready to go.  We were even mobile enough to keep up with Boo on his first trick-or-treating spree.

While I didn't particularly enjoy trick-or-treating as a child I was still a bit of a purest.  Trick-or-treating had to be done the old fashioned way by braving the elements and going door to door.  With an infant and a toddler however I decided it would be a good idea, at least for this year, to go to the local mall.  Boo was cute as a button but a bit hesitant when we got there.  We walked through one of the department stores to get into the mall and he made grandma carry him the whole way.  When he saw the huge line of kids walking the mall rarin' and ready to go.  At first Grandma had to help him along in the line and help him hold open his bag but it didn't take long for him to get the idea.  You could almost see the light go on in his little head, "If I hold open this bag, people put stuff in it."  When it clicked the roles reversed, Grandma no longer had to coax him along and help him open his bag, he was pulling her along to get to the next candy giver.  We made it about one quarter of the way around the mall before he got tired then we broke free from the line and headed back to the van.   

Luckily he didn't really get that the stuff being put in his bag was candy until we made it back to Grandma and Grandpa's house.  Once he was able to look in his bag though it was on.  He found a huge orange sucker and proceeded to stuff it in his mouth.  A few minutes later he could be seen nealing in front of Grandpa pleading with his big blue eyes to have his sucker returned to him.

We finished off the night with some pizza and candy giving.  This will probably be the last year we will not have snow, rain, or sleet for Halloween because we went trick-or-treating inside but we will take what mother nature throws at us and make more great memories in the years to come.