Halloween will be here soon. When the neighborhood kids come to the door on Halloween night, dressed as Batman or Spiderman or any number of costumes, I want to yell out “get off my lawn” or “go bug someone else,” but my wife shushes me and tells me to stop teasing. She usually sends me inside to take care of the dog!
Oh, I love Halloween, but by the time the little monsters and superheroes come to our house, I’m usually “Halloweened out” and have a sour stomach from stealing too many pieces of candy out of the candy bowl. Serves me right!
Anyway, here’s a few thoughts on the thrill night:
Favorite memory. My favorite Halloween memory has nothing to do with my own childhood, but everything to do with my kids. My favorite memory was taking the kids out each year. I loved it. One year, we walked over two miles, stopping to trick-or-treat at all the houses with lights on in our path. Yes, the kids pulled in a whopping pile of sugar-filled candy, so much so that we gave extras to whoever would take it (church, work, etc.) but Dad didn’t do too bad either.
Least favorite part of Halloween. Giving out the candy. My caring and patient wife is much better at it than me.
Tax and spend: The old saying goes that “nothing is certain, but death and taxes.” When the kids came home from Halloween night, they would sort through their candy from favorite to least favorite. Of course, I had to check their candy, making sure it was safe. If they got anything questionable, it went straight into the trash. If they had extras, which they always did, I would pull out a Snickers or Reese’s Cups or two. Hey, there’s a tax for everything, even a Daddy Tax! In the moment, the kids usually didn’t mind too much. Heck, they were loaded up on sugar and they usually didn’t mind giving me all the candy they didn’t like. I have to say I really wish the U.S. Tax Code worked the same way.
Favorite costume: When I was a young kid, I wore one of my mom’s old wigs and a jet-black dress-up beard and went dressed up to a kid’s community party as a crazy pirate. I wasn’t even supposed to go to the party. My mom and I came up with the costume on a whim and I came close to winning the prize for the best costume.
Favorite candy. My choice of favorite candy changes year-to-year, but Reese’s Cups always rates high.
Favorite horror movie or ghost story: None. Keep me away from those damned Flying Monkey’s from The Wizard of Oz. They scared the bejesus out of me as a kid. However, if pressed to pick one, I would point to Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman in Washington Irving’s short story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” but that’s only when pressed! Damn horror movies!
Happy Halloween.
Writing from the Heart with Brian 
The “Daddy Tax”…I love that! 😉
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I love how you organized this!
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That’s good LA because I started with the questions and wasn’t sure where I was going to go. It seemed out of the blue, but hey sometimes that how it goes. Thank you!
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I’ve always been in two minds about Halloween. Over here, people often have fireworks, which terrify my poor cat, Peanut. In our area, we have a rule about door-knocking for treats. Those who don’t mind this leave a pumpkin outside their door, and those who do mind, don’t. Halloween always worried me because there seemed to be youngish children without parents knocking on strangers’ doors, and I wondered whether they were safe. That doesn’t happen as much nowadays. I must confess to being one of those miserable people who doesn’t engage in it all. I’m glad to hear that it’s such an enjoyable event for you and your family, though. I do make an exception for my nextdoor neighbour’s grandchildren, though, and always make sure I have sweets to give them. It does sound like you have a lot of fun. I love the idea of ‘Daddy’s tax.’ I can imagine you as a crazy pirate, too.
As for all the sweets, you and I have similar tastes; I used to love Snickers (I remember when they were called Marathon). That’s probably showing my age! Unfortunately, they don’t make a vegan version, so that’s out of the question for me. Probably just as well for the sake of my healthy eating. Mind you, as they say, everything in moderation. And Reece’s Cups are one of my absolute favourites, and what’s more, they make them in plain chocolate, which I can eat. They are just so moreish. Happy Halloween to you and your family, Brian. Have fun.
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With our kids grown, Halloween is a smaller thing for us now. But, yes, we’ll still get a few trick-or-treaters on Halloween. And yes, I always followed the kids around, I never felt safe leaving them at a young age to go on their own. I trusted them, not so much cars on the street and everything else. Don’t discount being there for your neighbor’s grandchildren. My kids still talk fondly on my parent’s in law neighbors because they used to give out regular-sized candy bars — not the smaller ones that come out in a bag and are given out here in the US. They always loved stopping and seeing the couple. Happy Halloween to you too!
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Great picks, Brian. And I’m with you – I don’t like the horror movies but I love the Halloween candy!
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I was scarred by horror movies at an early age. Hate ’em. My son laughs at me, but that’s okay, my very active imagination gets in the way.
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I agree, Brian. They are too intense!
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