Halloween Redux

Can there be too many Halloween parties? When my family came to the US we didn't really do Halloween. I remember going trick or treating only a handful of times during childhood. In fact, I've never had a store-bought costume for any occasion (although I guess my wedding dress is the ultimate princess costume). Once in college I wore a friend's dress that she had gotten at the Salvation Army and said I was a hippie (because the dress was so old). Another year I put on my sister's Stanford Law shirt and said I was a law student. So this year has become the bonanza of Halloween parties to make up for all those fun times I think I missed out on when I was a kid.

Over the past three weeks we've gone to 9 parties/events and the circus. The Got Chocolate Milk event kicked everything off, then we went to a neighborhood pumpkin party, then the Moms Club party, Borders Halloween party, the circus, three events on Friday and two yesterday. H has become a party animal. He never wants to go home now, but expects to go to the next event. I have started him on a path that I can foresee leading to beer pong and jello shots in college. What have I done?

The saving grace of all this is that H doesn't really like candy. He licks a lollipop three times and then says he's done. The only thing he really likes is chocolate, but now I've trained him to think that is a prize he gets only after going no.2 in the toilet. R, on the other hand, is a candy junkie. I think it was the gestational diabetes that did it, but there is no food with a discernable sugar content that he will turn down (except raisins, but what kids would pick raisins over candy?). Funny to see an 18-month old wrestle you to the ground before giving up his trick or treat bag. Luckily he's too young to realize that we took all the candy last night and put it in a box to give away.

So the top ten things I've learned this Halloween:

10) Bad candy should be outlawed, nobody wants to get mints in their Halloween bag.

9) If you're going to multiple events, you should have more than one costume otherwise all your photos will end up looking the same.

8) It's not a good idea to skip breakfast and eat candy instead. Both Stewart and I had bad headaches all day Friday and realized why parents have been saying this for ages.

7) Giant Elmo costume on an adult is NOT cute.

6) Toddler boys do not want to carve pumpkins.

5) Your kid should not be the only one not wearing a costume at a Halloween event.

4) Tootsie rolls have been reformulated and now taste like chalk.

3) If you are in high school and over six feet tall, you shouldn't be trick or treating. And if you are, you should at least have a costume.

2) It's not about the candy, but the thrill of the unknown, of going up to each person and saying trick or treat not knowing what their response will be.

1) You don't have to do everything, one event per day max should be the rule.

I think this year's frenzy of activity has cured me of the desire to go nuts at Halloween. Next year, it will be very sedate. Perhaps we will even skip it and move right on to Christmas. Time to get the ornaments out...