every day is halloween...

My Jack Skellington O'Lantern

 Lessons I learned from last night's trick-or-treaters...

1. If the door doesn't open within 2 seconds of ringing the door bell, start knocking loudly and repeatedly, while also ringing the door bell again.
   
2. Even though you've been given a big handful of candy, keep your bag open and ask for more.
   
3. Costumes are apparently optional.
   
4. Never leave candy out as a self-serve as my neighbours did. While some will live up to the honour code and just take one or two pieces, within an hour two uncostumed teenagers will just dump the entire bowl into the garbage bags they're using as trick-or-treat bags...
   
5. If you like a decoration at someone's house, you should ask if you can have it. And if they say no, ask for something else. And keep asking until your mother, totally embarrassed finally tells you to shut up and say thank you for the candy.  

And then the most important lesson of the night - Parenting tips from the mother of the year:

1. As your 10 children crowd around the door, all jostling for treats,  scream at them repeatedly to be careful of the jack-o-lantern as "There's FIRE there", all the while smoking a cigarette I can still smell in my hallway. Then, open your own pillowcase to collect for "my sick kid at home" (funny she said that last year, I remember her) and then hold the pillow case directly over the FIRE you were so worried about 2 seconds before. 

 Remind me again why I spend my evening waiting around to give out candy to people I don't know?

in this town we call home, everyone hail to the pumpkin song...

It's Halloween. One of my favourite holidays. And yet, I'm not excited about it this year. Sure, I threw together a costume for our work Halloween lunch and my friend's party last night, but otherwise, nothing. I haven't decorated our house, I haven't carved our pumpkins, I didn't even get candy that we like to hand out. (We don't need candy would be part of the reason. The other being that last year we had so many kids, not just teenagers but little kids, without costumes and who were demanding 'more' when we'd hand out our handful of candy to each of them, that I didn't feel like giving out great candy this year if it's just going to be unappreciated like that...)

I don't know if it's just that I'm outgrowing Halloween, or if this year it's even more bittersweet because of the loss. One of the things I'm looking most forward to with my children is Halloween. I loved this holiday as a kid and spent hours planning out my costumes and figuring out our trick-or-treat route. Had things not been different I would have been 26 weeks pregnant. I'd be dreaming of next year when I'd have a little one to dress up and introduce to Halloween (even though they'd be too young to understand, I know). At this rate, I can't even be sure I'll be pregnant next Halloween, let alone have a baby. *sniff*.

Okay, enough of the pity party.

On a different note - I hope the trick-or-treaters tonight have picked warm costumes. We got 6 cms of snow last night! It's starting to melt this morning, but it's still only supposed to go up to 3C today. Burr. Reminds me of Halloweens of my childhood - I know there were a few times I trick-or-treated in the snow in Winnipeg.

Our first Halloween in Winnipeg (I think)

Anyway, today I will attempt to find my Halloween spirit, by carving our pumpkins, roasting the seeds, and watching a scary movie. Or at least a Halloween-themed movie. Maybe scary is too ambitious. I don't really do scary movies well any more - too many nightmares...

Happy Halloween. What are you doing to celebrate tonight?