Fear Week – Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween!

Today I am thankful for Halloween. Mainly I am thankful for all of the candy that came as a result of Halloween when I was a child. As a 9 year old, nothing was better than filling up a sleeping bag with candy that I could use to trade with my brothers. (Trading a Milky Way for a Butterfinger was an easy one sided deal I could always make with my brother Chris).

How funny is it that one night out of the year, kids are encouraged to dress crazy and ask strangers for candy.

For 364 days of the year adults tell kids to dress normal, avoid strangers and eat healthy.

Imagine a 7 year old girl approaching her mom on June 3rd and saying, “mom, I want to dress up like Miley Cyrus, go outside at 8pm and wander around the neighborhood asking people for tootsie roll pops.”

I’m pretty sure her mom would but the back of her hand to her daughter’s forehead to check for a temperature before telling her to stop listening to Miley Cyrus, and brush her teeth, finish her homework and go straight to bed.

But on October 31st, all that goes out the window.

I don’t have kids, but I assume that parents allow their children to go crazy on Halloween because they remember how much fun it was when they were a kid.

As an adult I don’t quite look forward to Halloween like I did as a kid. I’m guessing that it has something to do with the fact that I can dress however I want and eat as much candy as I want everyday. If I wanted to, I could go out on June 3rd dressed like Miley Cyrus and wander around the neighborhood asking people for tootsie roll pops.

But I will always look fondly on Halloween as a kid. And one day when I am a parent I will let my kids dress crazy, talk to strangers and eat all the candy they want. But only on October 31st.