"Halloween Apples!"

Well...the two-faced pumpkin has been carved (both sides being envisioned and mostly carved by the youngest member of our household), the candy has been purchased, the bumble bee costume is ready...I'm thinking that we're ready for the evening's festivities.

I have to admit it - I'm not actually a huge fan of halloween.  I don't hate it or anything, but it's a bit of a mixed bag for me.  I'm always a bit perplexed about how to monitor Matthew's consumption of the candy; in the past two years, my strategy has been to allow him one half-hour binge on the stuff after he comes home with his treasure, and then to dole it out in small quantities in the days thereafter (while steadily sneaking away bits of his stash to reduce the pile!).  I have no idea how wise or effective this strategy is...I'd be interested in hearing how others manage it.  The other thing I don't like about halloween is the scary costumes that some kids come to the door dressed in.  I'm not a fan of anything witch-related, and I remember freaking out (as did Matthew) last year when one kid came to the door looking like he was a murder victim, complete with ax in the neck and lots of 'blood' - it was horrifying and I could not get him off my step fast enough. I thought about that costume for days.

On the other hand, I do love the kids in cute costumes, especially the little ones (say, eight years old and under). There are truly some lovely costumes out there and it is fun to see how excited the kids get about dressing up.  I also enjoy handing out candy at the door and saying hi to the overwhelmingly friendly neighbourhood kids, as well as their parents standing at the end of the driveway - we met a couple of lovely neighbours last year.  Probably the best parts of halloween for me, though, are seeing the building up of Matthew's excitement in the days leading up to halloween, and then hearing his gasps of pleasure and surprise when he gets home after trick-or-treating and examines all of the loot that he dumps out on the kitchen floor!

Thus, despite having a few reservations about it, I find myself getting excited about heading out with Matthew tonight; for the first time, Matthew will be trick-or-treating with two of his cousins and a few friends, and it will be Geoff and I who will be tagging along and waving at benevolent neighbours from the end of the driveway.

Happy Halloween everyone!  Be safe and have fun.