I started to draft this blog post the week I had to go out of town for work, so unfortunately it's a "Post-Halloween post". I'll be back on schedule with my two weekly posts starting Monday. My apologies!
As a true believer that Halloween is simply a fun evening for all ages, not a time to sacrifice black cats and worship Satan (let's face it, if that's what you're into, you can do that on any night), here are my general rules for making a successful Halloween, in no particular order:
1. You must eat candy on Halloween night, and for at least a week afterwards. Eat the chocolate first, it's without argument the best stuff in your bag. Throw those nasty Good 'n Plenty in the trash!
2. You have to carve at least one pumpkin. Painting one is NOT a reasonable alternative. Get your hands icky and scoop out all that glop. Toast the seeds in your oven, don't waste 'em!
3. Your costume must be original, designed and fashioned with your own hands, or with help from sensible adults. You don't have to know how to sew, just be clever with what's out there. TJ was once a white pillow case ghost. He had a piece of ratty muslin wrapped around him for added effect, and little rubber spiders hot glued around the fabric. The whole costume cost around $4.00, which sums up my next rule:
4. You don't have to spend a fortune on your costume, unless you REALLY want to. I never REALLY want to.
5. Your get-up should really remain a secret until the big night. You don't want to risk someone copying your idea!
6. TJ and I have our own little Halloween ritual, which is similar to he rule about leaving out cookies for Santa. We leave a handful of candy corn at our bedside on Halloween night. This ensures us that the vampires will not suck our blood. Didn't you know that vampires LOVE candy corn? If you leave it by your bed on October 31st, it's guaranteed that you will not wake up with holes in your neck. Wouldn't you know that when TJ woke up last November 1st, all but one piece of candy corn had been eaten- he was spared!
7. You have to watch It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, during the Halloween season. Period. TiVo it if you must. Does anyone remember the Garfield Halloween cartoon? You know, "can-dy, can-dy, can-dy!" Why isn't that on anymore?
8. If you don't get any trick-or-treaters where you live, consider moving. Which also goes hand-in-hand with my final rule of the season:
9. Hand out good candy, or you won't get any trick-or-treaters. I made this horrible mistake one year many Halloween's ago while living in Phoenix. I was rushed to get candy, and I picked up a bag of, well, whatever was leftover. Needless to say, it was mainly a mix of old-fashioned hard candies. While nostalgic and fun for adults, kids tend to favor candy bars and Nerds and the like. Well, a cute little Rhett Butler put me in my place, because he told me "Yuck, I don't like this kind of candy". His Dad who was standing behind him started to glow red, even without the help from make-up. Boy, did I learn my lesson.
Hope you all had a great Halloween!
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