Never, ever take candy from a stranger. Unless it’s Halloween. Then find every stranger you know and get as much candy as you can! Because there is no better way to instill a good lifelong lesson in your kids than to teach them the exact opposite one night a year.
Ah, trick or treat. That one night you let your kids roam the streets begging door to door for buckets full of candy that they will bother you about constantly for the next month. And nothing says hello holidays and goodbye trying to eat better like dozens of little chocolate devils screaming your name on the counter.
And can we talk about Halloween costumes? I swear next year we are buying my girls costumes the day of trick or treat! There hasn’t been a year yet that Maylie hasn’t changed her mind after I already spent way too much on the most perfect version of the character she wanted to be.
Two years ago, we were in that full blown Dora stage where the map song was constantly ringing in our ears. I had an amazing idea — Maylie could be Dora for Halloween and baby Reagan could be Boots, her monkey side kick.
I was so excited that Maylie would get to be her favorite character. But, when the outfits arrived, Maylie was so upset that Reagan was Boots and she was not. She literally cried all evening until I squeezed her into the size 6 months Boots costume. She wanted nothing to do with Dora! Of course I did what any exhausted Mama would do — I ordered another Boots costume and they both went as Boots.
This year I asked them both about 100 times what they wanted to be. I swore I was only ordering ONE outfit each kid! Maylie was a little older now and would have to stick with what she chose. She picked an angel (oh, the irony — ha!) After she went on and on about it, I finally ordered it — complete with wings and a halo. It was beautiful.
The day after the costume came, she told GG she was going to be a cowgirl. Um, what? No, no! You, my sweet child, are going to be an angel. Now, be an angel!
But, we do attend plenty of Halloween events and really, how hard is a cowgirl to pull off? We had boots, jeans and a flannel shirt. All we really needed was a hat. Relentlessly, I jumped on my go-to Amazon and found a $7 super cute cowgirl hat.
But once that hat arrived, I quickly realized the error in my ways. I didn’t order Reagan a hat like sissy and I just keep hearing her sweet little voice ask, “Did you get me a hat?” Don’t worry, she had a hat by the end of the week.
As far as actual trick or treating goes, we are in that in between stage of stroller or no stroller. Inevitably, daddy gets stuck pushing it around kid free most of the night because the second we don’t have the stroller everyone’s legs hurt.
And speaking of strollers, it is fine and dandy to dress up your 3 month old for Halloween, but please at least try to be slick about asking for candy with a kid that age. I mean, for real, we all know who is eating that candy — don’t ruin it for the rest of us mothers hiding behind 2 year olds.
And speaking of candy, remember the saying “treat others as you want to be treated?” Seriously, who really wants to eat hard tack candy, Dots and Tootsie rolls for a month? Can you throw in some Snickers or Reese cups for us stressed out mamas? Actually never mind. I see you are just trying to help me with my diet. Thank you.
The concept of the more houses you hit the more candy you get is still unknown to little Reagan. Instead, she wants to try each piece as it hits her bucket. Which is just fantastic as trick or treat typically ends right at bedtime. And who doesn’t want to attempt to put kids all jacked up on sugar to bed.
Oh, well. It’s just one night. Just kidding. We have enough candy to refill Walmart’s shelves. No worries, I will regulate the intake, make them brush twice a day and maybe help make that stash go down just a little quicker.
After all, I did do all the work stressing about their outfits being perfect and making sure they had the opportunity to get out and trick or treat. So maybe I do deserve just a tiny reward. Go ahead girls, get out there and bring mama some goodies home.
We can discuss the stranger danger lesson tomorrow. Hopefully, over some Reese cups and Snickers.
Happy Halloween!
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