Halloween Strategy

I think as parents we had as much fun as our kids at Halloween. We never over thought it because it was just about the candy. My wife Pam always did a great job and put in a lot of time making the kids costumes. We still laugh when we look at the picture albums and see all the kids dressed up as pirates or maybe the Hunchback of Notre Dame. Ok maybe most of the other kids didn’t know who that was but it was still scary. We would put hay in the back of the old truck and one of us would drive real slowly and the other would ride in the back with the kids, so they could get in and out as we rode through the local neighborhoods. We’d let old Buck, our lab/bloodhound mix, come along just in case we needed to track the kids down. He loved kids and to ride in that old truck.
You didn’t have to worry much about the candy the kids received because you knew the people whose homes you went to. They were your relatives, the people you went to church with, the people you worked with, or maybe the parents of some of your kid’s friends. The main concern was the strategy. The kids would make a plan on which neighborhoods would give the most candy and listed them mentally, one by one; in a descending order from who gave the most to who gave the least and this was the way in which we would go. There were probably many battles fought with less thought than this. It rarely worked out the way they had planned but it was always intriguing to see how their little minds worked and just how much thought was placed on this yearly event. We would always go by and see relatives before it was too late because that was guarantee bag filler. The kids would beg us to skip the houses that gave toothbrushes or pencils.
After a couple of hours everyone would be tired and we’d come home and have some hot chocolate and we would help divide out the candy so everyone was happy with their share and Pam and I would even get a candy bar or two.
Times may have changed, like everything else, but kids still get to enjoy things like trunk-or- treat and Fall Festivals at their local schools and churches. It’s a good way for the children to enjoy a safe Halloween and make sure you take lots of pictures to look at 10 years down the road. You’ll be glad you did!
Happy Halloween.
Just Saying!
oer