On the twelfth day of Halloween.....

Guess who we are?

Is it just me or does Halloween seem to go on for....EVER?  Somewhere around mid September the Halloween superstores open their doors and the kids confirm the costume selections which they have been debating since the previous Halloween. Early October brings the annual trip to the pumpkin patch to select the perfect orange beast for the family Jack-O'-Lantern.

The week prior to the holiday things start to get real. There is the school party (with candy), the friend party (with candy), the trick-or-treat street in your neighborhood (with candy), and the trick-or-treat street one neighborhood over (with candy.) By the time the big day arrives your kids have worn out their costumes and have already consumed 40,000 calories of fun-sized candy bars.

Here is where I start to sound old and bitter. Back in my day Halloween was just that. One day. We wore our costumes to school, with no rules about weapons or masks, and we braved the freezing Wisconsin night hiding our costumes under winter jackets and sometimes snow boots. We went from house to house in our little neighborhood. Nobody drove us. Pre-razor blade days people still handed out candy apples and sometimes baked goods. We would get home that evening, our lips blue and fingers numb and sort our candy by their level of disarableness. Then it was done. The end.

Don't get me wrong... I actually love Halloween. It is one of my favorite holidays, primarily  because it doesn't require an elaborate meal or a second mortgage to pay for gifts. Halloween is pure fun, and hell I like dressing up as much as the next person, but I don't think we need fifteen days of sugar-coated celebration.

Lest you think I am a total Scrooge, our family has participated in the madness. The boys have already worn their costumes multiple times and even the husband and I got in the spirit last night when we arrived at a party, pretty much the only ones in costume, but damn-we were awesome!



Happy Halloween.