Holloween Mix Ups & Tricky Trick or Treating Messes

I'm pretty sure I HADN'T planned to write again so soon... BUT.. I was on facebook (yeah, I know you're surprised... ) and I read this totally heartbreaking post from a Mom whose neighborhood decided to have Halloween trick or treating tonight (Saturday 10/30) instead of Sunday 10/31, which as we all know, is actually Halloween.

Now don't get me wrong. I am not in favor of changing the day we celebrate Halloween to a Saturday just because it's a Saturday, nor am I particularly against it... but what I AM AGAINST is a neighborhood failing to communicate it's decision on trick or treating in a sufficient and timely manner. This mom took her kids out for dinner (something that seems lovely), came home, and discovered to her and her heartbroken daughter's shock that they HAD MISSED HALLOWEEN. All the candy they purchased, the costumes, all for naught because their neighborhood went tonight and THEY DIDN"T KNOW.

Now I understand that neighborhoods are tricky to run and they are generally filled with people who don't see eye to eye on how tall a shrub should be, much less what day kids should go around begging for snacks..... but shouldn't there be some measure of responsibility within the neighborhood to say "HEY... let's pick a day" for Halloween? And, by the way, let's SHARE THAT NEWS with the rest of the 'hood?

Here on Wisteria Drive (Lane was taken and way too complex for my mid-50s neighborhood), there apparently was a newsletter put out that one of my more responsible neighbors threw my way that clearly denominated when our trick or treat day was for just this reason. So the Things were safe going out for Chinese tonight and then returning home for the Shrek cartoon show tonight. No tears in my house this evening.... if you had some in yours, then for crying out loud, give the kids ALL the candy you bought for the neighbors. And let them ring doorbells tomorrow anyway. Just saying. If you have TOO much candy, let them give it out when they go door to door. Everyone wins that way.

I am a Halloweenie... true confessions of an over-the-top suburbanite

I must confess, Halloween is my favorite of all the holidays. Dressing the Things up, sending them out for a HUGE walk around our mid-1950's era suburban neighborhood with their Dad, and staying home to greet all the neighborhood kids and give them candy.... don't know why we only do it once a year! This year, the Things will be dressing up as a Well-Red Paperback (Thing 1) and a Michigan football player (Thing 2) OR some sort of spooky scary costume if he prefers.

I recognize the political and religious backlash against the holiday... I just choose to ignore it. For us, this holiday means saying hi to neighborhood friends we don't always see, visiting for a moment (and sure, there's the whole begging for food aspect).... and pretending to be something that we aren't.

HOWEVER... (here it comes)... WHEN YOU ARE OLD ENOUGH TO DRIVE INTO A NEIGHBORHOOD YOU DO NOT LIVE IN, YOU ARE TOO OLD TO BE TRICK OR TREATING. There. I've said it. When the person ringing my doorbell has gone to the trouble and expense of putting a sheet over his head and cutting out two eyes while his car is running in my driveway and his "bag" of goodies is a backpack or briefcase, I'm sorry... you will not get the good treats. If your beard is poking through the sheet, or you are dressed so scantily I can't tell whether you are there to get a treat or OFFER  a trick, I have a problem with you.  I always buy a supply of inexpensivenon-edible Halloween chatchkes... pencils, erasers, crayons. I give you those in hopes you will use them to fill out an employment application because clearly YOU ARE OLD ENOUGH TO WORK.

OK... don't tell me that Trick or Treating is just for the little ones... I give treats to the parents too because I know MY dear hubbie is out there tripping over small people and freezing his tush off so the kids can get their loot. But for older kids out on their own, I do sometimes wonder whether they are really there for the fun-size Snickers or if they are casing the joint.

That's one reason I like to wear my TKD uniform on Halloween. Just saying. Have a safe and happy one!

No I haven't forgotten about this blog...

And I certainly haven't been spending my time doing housework OR homework... but I have NEEDED my sense of humor the last couple of weeks. See, when I decided to become a stay-at-home Mom, I never thought in a million years that I would have to, well... STAY AT HOME. I mean, home is fine and all, but those precious hours when Things 1 & 2 are at school learning or whatever they do there is MY time. And that generally means between 8:45 and 3:00, I am NOWHERE near my house.

Then, Thing 2 got sick. I mean scary sick. I mean we rushed to the hospital to make sure he wasn't imploding sick. I've never had to be in a hospital with my children before... yeah, I know... it's part of life... but I was actually scared. He was in agony clutching his little belly and I can't sew a button on a pair of pants so I'm certainly not going to mess with a possible appendix needing some sort of stitchery. We spent most of the 24-hour period while the Dad was away (for the first, and clearly, ONLY time) getting all sorts of icky tests. Anyway, long story short... Thing 2 was ok. No surgery required. Just time and patience. I had plenty of the first.

The first couple days Thing 2 stayed home from school he was really too sick to DO anything so as long as I got enough Gatorade and movies to him, he was ok. By day 4, he was feeling better enough to get out of  bed but not well enough to go to school. In the meantime, I had maxed out my entertainment structure here in the house and was feeling a bit well... cabin feverish. So, I confess... I reverted to my high school hobby of watching soaps. Can't understand for the life of me why anyone watches them... but that's another blog for another day.

Long story short, it was 8 days that I spent AT HOME with Thing 2 in my cast.. hobbling up and down the stairs. Like I have always said, I love my kids.... and I even love my house.... but too much of being at home entertaining them is EXHAUSTING! Thank goodness Thing 2 is ok and back at school where I can miss him once again!

Since I have 500 other things to do....

So normally, I would just update my facebook status 80000 times today since I have SO much else to do... but instead, no, I am here playing with my new blog. Dishes are in the sink (crumbs are on the floor), Thing 1's music folder is exactly where he left it last night (on the coffeetable) when I "Suggested" that he pack his backpack so he was ready to go to school today... and Thing 2 will hopefully find SOMETHING to eat from the hot lunch choices since he wasn't exactly in the mood to make a decision before we had to leave to get to school.

Now for the blog title, it really didn't take me long to figure out at all. Of course, of the 3 items listed, the only one I actually concentrate on is the first. Homework is the Things' problem, Housework is (at least at the moment) my least high priority.... but Humor is the one thing that gets me through the day.

Welcome to my thoughts. As I have always said, the problem with facebook is the fact that it asks me what's on my mind. I'm here to expound on my answers there.