In this season of life, I celebrate Halloween my own way. I’m the only one in the family who danced Michael Jackson’s Thriller this year at Albuquerque Thrill the World dressed as a zombie bride. I’m the only one who went to a Tolkien book club dressed as an elf.
We didn’t go to a pumpkin patch or a corn maze, though I did get a fall picture at the Albuquerque Biopark.
No one in my home is going trick-or-treating or attending a harvest festival. My teens would rather spend the evening at home in a dark house watching movies and eating crunchers…chips, candy, and whatever goodies will tempt them when they go shopping for tonight’s festivities. They are trying to make me revisit the most traumatic horror movie of my childhood…Watership Down. Now that Halloween with my children has come full circle, it feels appropriate to share the story of the first Halloween the kids went trick-or-treating. I just finished writing it up to add to my upcoming book Syra’s Scribbles VII: 2015-2017.
To read my favorite Halloween story, you’ll have to crack open Syra’s Scribbles VI and read the chapter called “Blood 3:15.”
First Halloween
October 2015
Dear Ruth,
We’ve never done the whole trick-or-treating thing for Halloween. Esther was really freaked out about skeletons when she was a toddler, and I didn’t like my children eating candy. We’ve always stayed home in a dark house, watching a movie, and having a cruncher party with chips and chocolate bars. It saved me money on costumes and dental bills. Furthermore, Mom is a diabetic with no self-control. She doesn’t need the temptation of candy stashes around the house.
A few weeks ago, I read an article about how Halloween is a celebration of community. It’s a beautiful time of year for opening our homes to our neighbors. That made me feel better about the holiday, though I still wasn’t ready to invest in costumes and candy.
This Halloween started out differently because it fell on the only day that Mike and I had time to go look for a new car after the minivan was totaled. Some kid driving the wrong way on a one-way street in downtown Fort Worth hit Mike, who was on his way to the office, which he rents to get out of the house. Mike works for the start-up in California, but working from home is too much when there are toddlers and preschoolers afoot during the workday. Downtown Fort Worth is usually the perfect distance.
Saturday, October thirty-first found us at CarMax, all day long. We went in after looking online, but the car we wanted smelled bad. We test-drove cars all afternoon into the evening. Right when we started the loan setup, Esther called me.
The little kids had been driving Esther and Sophia crazy, asking when Mom and Dad would get home.
After I explained that we wouldn’t be home for a long time, Esther complained, “We can’t watch a movie.” We had bought all the candy and crunchers for our movie night, but the kids can’t start movies without us; and we weren’t about to tell them where we hide the Roku remotes.
“I’m sure you’ll think of something.” I said, “Remember, you are in charge. Do whatever it takes to keep your siblings happy.”
I wondered for a brief moment if she would consider taking them trick-or-treating, but of course they didn’t have costumes. Jonah was feeling sick when we left. I forgot to ask how he was doing, but figured no news was good news. Whatever they did, I hoped that they would find a way to take care of him too.
After our phone call, Esther and Sophia consulted each other and decided to go trick-or-treating. Sophia put on the green Renaissance dress from my closet. Esther, Basil, Jonah, Xenia, and Justin raided the dress-up bin with pirate costumes and a ballerina outfit. After getting dressed up, they realized that Jonah shouldn’t be out of bed, let alone out of the house. Not only did he have a cough and a snotty nose, but his face was also pale and sweaty. Sophia took his temperature, which was over a hundred degrees. She volunteered to stay home with him.
Esther, Basil, and Xenia came back with Justin after hitting up the first two or three houses because their toddler brother was slowing them down. He was happy to stay with Sophia and help pass out the party pack of Kit Kats for our cruncher party to neighborhood kids. Jonah did a great deal of crying even when Sophia swore to him that all the siblings would pool their candy and share it six ways. He only stopped sobbing when the kids came home and showed him their spoils. They were still sorting out goodies when Mike and I walked in.
I didn’t want to steal their joy, so I didn’t reprimand anyone. I am hoping that they will forget this happened by next year, but if they insist on celebrating Halloween, maybe I can have fun with their costumes. In the meantime, I took my fair share of Twix and Snickers bars.
Hoping we can keep Mom away from the candy,
Syra
