I am a huge fan of Halloween. In fact, a friend recently referred to me as the Halloqueen. It's my favorite holiday. No offense, Jesus, but in recent years Halloween has usurped Christmas as my number 1 holiday. I've always liked Halloween, but I think as Christmases became more hectic, the consistency of Halloween made it, for me, the most joyous of holidays.
Let me explain why and maybe, you too, will come to embrace the true beauty that is Halloween.
1) It's a holiday but it does not require visiting relatives. Now, please don't get me wrong (especially you family members who might be reading this), I love my relatives but juggling two sets of families around holidays is, at times, no easy task. Add to that when those family members have family members of their own to work around as well.
2) No presents to buy. I used to love buying Christmas presents. I would make lists and then joyfully hit the stores. Then I would spend hours wrapping and creating fancy bows. But as the years go on and my time is limited, I have come to appreciate the "grab bag" policy that my family had adopted.
3) Candy. You don't actually need an explanation for that, do you??
4) Costumes. While I realize that some people HATE dressing up in costumes, I absolutely love it. When else can you dress up as Madonna and not look like an idiot (or look like an idiot but not care?) My past costumes have included Peter Criss from KISS, Eddie Munster, and Velma (of the Scooby Doo Gang). And those are only the ones from my adult years in my 30's! I actually have more fun dressing up now than when I was a kid. When I was young I usually had one of those Woolworth costumes, with the plastic smock and mask. I had friends whose moms made them elaborate costumes, princess, etc, all handmade. I was secretly jealous. My costumes also, at times, were unrecognizable. For example, one year I was Princess Leia. Are you picturing the long white dress and bun-hairdo? Well, I decided to be different and to dress as Princess Leia circa Return of the Jedi. And I don't mean the gold bikini. Can't picture it? Don't worry, you are not alone. Nobody knew who I was. And if you are wondering if I had a light saber then shame on you, cause Leia did not use one. She did have a blaster, but I digress.
5) Kids in costumes. There is nothing cuter to me than the sight of little kids in Halloween costumes (caveat: this does not apply to little kids dressed as Freddy, the Scream guy, Pinhead, etc.; those freak me out.) Anyway, the sight of a little girl in a princess costume just melts me, as does a little Superman. The way they run down the block to the next house, wondering what kind of treat they will get...come on, don't you wish you had that kind of excitement in your life now?? Actually, chocolate does create that kind of excitement for me. See #3 above.
6) The school parades. This ties into #5, but it's #5 to the 100th power! A parade filled with kids in costume! Look! A vending machine!! Look! A Twister game!! I get positively giddy!
The day always ends with me and my girls sitting on the floor going through their loot; separating what they don't want and putting those pieces into our own bowl of candy for trick or treaters (hey, one kid's junk is another kid's Sugar Daddy.) The girls don't like coconut so I gleefully take the Mounds and Almond Joys. My oldest separates the Tootsie Rolls to give to daddy. We marvel at the full-sized candy bar that one of our neighbors gives to every child, every year. We collect the pennies and put them in piggy banks. My girls already start to think about what they want to be next year. We laugh and have a great time. And there aren't yards of wrapping paper to clean up afterwards.
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