Friday’s Photo Finish: 5 Things that Annoy the Halloween Out of Me

I love Halloween. I love seeing kids get so excited to dress up as their favorite animal, favorite character. I love to see them run up to spookily decorated houses and yell “trick or treat!” at the top of their lungs and come back with smiles on faces yelling “look how much candy I got!” like it is the stuff of their dreams.

I love my neighborhood and walking around to see all the awesome decorations and knowing that there is a community invested in celebrating childhood.

I love getting dressed up and joining my kids in the magic. I love decorating the house and inviting others to come up to get some candy and share in the joy of Halloween.

Except.

You were waiting for it, weren’t you.

See, while I love all those things about Halloween, there are also things that get on my ever lasting nerves. Every year I tell myself I WILL NOT let these things get to me. I will enjoy and not let these annoyances override the fun of being out with my kids.

But oh my gosh do I fall considerably short of that goal.

1. The High Schooler Trick or Treater.

Ever been out with your kids trick or treating and there are these giants pushing their way past them to the candy bowl? I don’t mind if older kids trick or treat, but be mindful of the littles. They are who the holiday is really for. They still believe in the ghosts and the spookiness of the evening and going up to each house is a new adventure. Yes, their end goal is the same as the high schoolers- get all the candy you possibly can. But when you are in high school, hey- you can go to 7-11 and guy yourself a candy bar. So if you are out, remember- watch out for the littles.

2. The No Costume Trick or Treater.

Ugh. Really? The guy that came to my door wearing the back pack backwards with the opening in front. No costume, just plain old clothes. Kids, that’s not trick or treating, that is begging. Now, I know in the area I live in, with a family homeless shelter down the street, that many kids out and about on Halloween cannot afford a costume. And part of me feels that this is their dinner and makes me want to hand out soup packets. But the other part of me thinks, hey, put a little effort into it. Even putting some face make-up on in an effort to be a zombie would be better than nothing. The guy at my house told me he was a bus driver. Last I checked, even bus drivers wear uniforms. Okay, I’ll give them a break. Geesh.

3. The multi-bag “it’s for my baby brother” trick or treater.

This has been new this year. I was getting kids with 2, 3 up to 4 bags saying it was for their baby brother. I asked one girl how old her baby brother was. 1 years old- and they are eating Air Heads? Hey, i’m not going to judge if people give their 1 year olds candy on Halloween, but I call foul. So I was instituting a “1 bag per person” rule. My brother sent me a message telling me there were eggs and toilet paper in my future.

4. The adult trick or treater.

I had a good many adults come up with their own bags. No, not with their child helping them- on their own. With their own bag. Really? REALLY? Why don’t you just steal your kids candy like the rest of us?

5. The infant trick or treater up way past their bedtime.

This is not the infants fault. The the baby in her mom’s arm that was crying as she came up  trick or treating sort of broke my heart. She clearly could care less and may have been scared shitless- but mom was all smiless “trick or treating” for her little girl. Am I judging here a little bit? I am all for having kids stay up later on Halloween- but infants at 10pm trick or treating? Again, just a ploy for adults to get candy. Come. ON!

Okay, so there you have it. I’ll continue to hand out candy, even to the above mentioned trick or treaters that boil my blood. Because overall, my community is awesome on Halloween and I will focus on that. Next year- next year I will NOT let it get to me….

Awesome Haunted House

Haunted Graveyard on our block

Spider House

Our Trick or Treaters

Have a great crazy day!