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Boy in skeleton costume holding bowl full of candies
By Alana Smith
Gosh, Halloween was so much fun as a kid. Dressing up, eating too much candy, and staying up way past your bedtime always made for the best night.
We had a good trick-or-treating neighborhood, too—flat roads, lots of kids, and not too much traffic. My brother and I would get dressed in our costumes and wait for the dark. We’d sit out on our porch, holding our empty Halloween bags, waiting on our friends across the street so we could all head down the road together. Those minutes would pass so slowly, and I can still feel the anticipation.
When everyone was finally ready, we’d take off at a sprint to the first house with its porch lights on. Our parents trailed way behind yelling, “Make sure to say thank you!” and “Let your brother go first!” We were thrilled when the owners of the house opened the door in costume with a good “BOO!” or exclaimed, “Aren’t you the best witch I’ve ever seen!” Good neighbors made all the difference.
When we had more candy than we could carry—or when our parents were tired of walking—we’d head on back home. We had already eaten several of our favorites (Reese’s Cups and KitKats) as we walked, but we would dump our haul of candy in the middle of the living room floor to count and sort and generally be in awe over. My dad would always say, “Give me a Snickers. Gotta make sure it’s safe, you know,” and he would confiscate one from each of us. We’d pile up all the chocolate and Skittles and Smarties and then push aside the Twizzlers and Bottle Caps and strawberry-wrapped hard candy for someone who didn’t like the good stuff. And then we ate. We ate and ate and didn’t care if we ended up with a stomachache. My mom would say, “That’s enough,” and we’d say, “But it’s Halloween!” and then we’d eat some more. I think I even slept in my costume once.
So, now, as a parent, Halloween is really special to me. I think it’s more fun now watching it through my children’s eyes than it was as a kid, honestly. My husband doesn’t love the Halloween tradition, but I think it’s because his memories of it aren’t as comforting as mine. So, I do my best to make it memorable for my boys. We go all out on costumes and decorations. We carve the pumpkin even though I hate the insides. We eat all the candy. We stay up late watching Hocus Pocus. We leave the porch light on and trick-or-treat ’til the bags are full or someone’s too tired to walk. And I can’t wait to do it again this year.
So, here’s to trick-or-treating ’til you drop and having the best Halloween with your family! Happy October, y’all.
Alana Smith is a boy mom (ages 9 and 4), nurse anesthetist, and writer in Birmingham. She shares her writing at Holy Moly Motherhood (on Facebook and Instagram), where she tackles all things motherhood and marriage.