Trick or Treat

On Sunday I had a conversation with my Mother-in-Law, Terry, about trick or treaters. And even though we both LOVE the holiday, we still struggle with the reality of how not enjoyable it is answering your door all night, handing out expensive candy some kids who almost knock you over!

But back to the fun of Halloween... I love seeing all the cute and creative costumes kids come up with.

Some that I’ve seen so far:

• A husband and wife dressed as beekeepers, and their kid dressed as a bumble bee
• A 3^rd grader who turned a huge piece of cardboard into bacon the size of his body.         Finishing touch: A thin gentleman’s mustache .hahah.

• My sister as The Goblin King, Jareth (played by David Bowie in the movie Labyrinth)

I then got to thinking… What kind of Trick or Treater was I? Honestly, I can’t remember many memories of Halloween, but I do have a few! There was that horrifying year when I was 7 (we were living in Duarte). I dressed up as Jasmin, from Aladdin and while crowding the front porch of a house desperate to get candy, someone stepped on my shoelace.. and I fell butt first into cactus! I was soo angry and in pain! Good thing my memory has failed me in remembering who it was, or else I’d still be holding a grudge against them. I can still remember the bitterness I felt as I watched all the other kids run to the next door. I stood curbside waiting for my neighbor, Gabve, to come pick me up because my parents were out with my other siblings trick or treating. When I got picked up I remember being sad that I couldn’t sit down, and had to figure out a leaning/kneeling position the whole way home (two blocks, big whoop) ..an eternity when in my condition!
   At this point there’s not much that could make it worse. Except trying to take the dang costume off! Obviously, with all those prickly pokies and flowy layers I couldn’t do it myself. So embarrassment flooded my body as my neighbor undressed me down to nothing and filled the tub with warm water to help sooth my itchy skin and hopefully help the needles ease out of my skin better. That was almost nice. No matter how I tried, it seemed impossible to find a position that wasn’t causing the cactus needles to push deeper into my skin. Gabve must have given me some pretty good pain killers too because I don’t remember much after that.

  Another Halloween trick or treating memory I have, was in Camarillo. I must have been about 10 or 11 years old, because I remember how awesome I felt trick or treating with my older sisters. That year they had it all figured out. My mom was driving our green mini-van. You know the ones with the sliding doors. Well, we kept the side doors open as my mom drove down the street so we could jump in and out as fast as possible. It was awesome! We were able to cover so many more neighborhoods that way, which meant only one thing: More candy!

 One of my most vivid (and bitter) Halloween experiences was when I was in 7^th grade and had just turned 13. Literally. My birthday is October 2^nd, so I was 12 years and 1 month old. I decided it was my last year of trick or treating and me and my best friend Kaile were matching princesses. My Aunt Laura had made our dressed from scratch. Mine was yellow and Kaile’s, pink.  Two blocks into our route we came to a house where a middle aged couple was reluctantly handing out candy. It was my turn. I reached out my bag and said, “Trick or Treat!” The two just stared at me and asked, “Aren’t you a bit too old to be trick or treating?” I said, “No, I’m 12” (hehehe). But they would NOT believe me! And refused to give me candy. I was so mad! My friends kept assuring the couple of my age but the couple just continued with their rude comments. And I was rude back. I can remember yelling out as I left the house (like all mature 13 year old's do) “It’s not my fault I’m tall, you jerks!”  But seriously. The thing that made it so stupid was that I was trick or treating with all my friends, who were in the same grade as me, and I was the second youngest out of our group of 6! And none of THEM were refused candy! So I felt justified!

 Although I didn’t always have the most pleasant experiences on Halloween night, I did always enjoy the parties, dances, and haunted houses that come with it. My mom always planned such fun birthday parties for me with a touch of Halloween. I remember one year she took me and all my friends to a haunted house out in the middle of farming fields. It was terrifying. So terrifying that by the end of the night my mom had pee’d her pants! Hahahah! And being the wonderful mother that she is, she too, laughed it off. I think we were able to find a trash bag for her to sit on, on the way home. Needless to say, it was probably one of my favorite birthdays : ) It was a slumber party where the fun continued all throughout the night and our sleeping quarters were in the garage. It made for one long night of games, giggles, and lasting friendships.

 Happy Halloween!

 Here we are this year as Popeye, Olive Oyl, and Sweet Pea at our Ward Trunk or Treat...

..where the greedy trick or treating was at it's finest! It was so bad that rather than feeling grumpy about it I had to laugh! This 5 year old dressed as an Angels baseball player (Pujols) grabbed a solid handfull of candy and went running off while yelling to his friend, "Lets go hide somewhere and EAT it!" hahahah.

...within 15 minutes Pujols was back for more.

This time he took two handfuls!