It was a tough Halloween for me this year. After all, Halloween is all about me, right, not those pesky kids…?! This was the first year I did not walk with my kiddos at any point in time during their trick-or-treating adventure. I actually had to steal a child to walk with in order to recover from the trauma of not having my own near me (thanks Betsy, for allowing me to walk around with Makenzie – you are a lifesaver).

Mario debated whether he was even going to go out this year. He debated all the way up until the weekend before Halloween when he decided that he would just go as a referee. He had received a sweet Italian soccer shirt that had black and white stripes like a referre’s shirt earlier in the week from his aunt and uncle. Even then, he was still a bit on the fence on who he would walk with and if he really wanted to go out at all (whose kid is he?!) 

Maria knew all along that she would be heading out. She is a girl after my heart with her love for gathering as much candy as possible over a two hour period on a cold October night. My enthusiasm for this holiday has totally infiltrated my girl. She and her friend determined that they would be M&Ms weeks before Halloween, and they both got on Amazon to find matching outfits. Of course, Maria and I procrastinated and did not purchase the attire off of Amazon until  days before Halloween, which led to extravagant shipping costs on my end. Better planning next year…. 

Back to Mario … who decided the night before Halloween that he had to have a different costume. That day at school he had decided that he would walk with a group of his friends who all had “cool costumes” compared to him. So, I got to miss out on Maria’s end-of-the-year soccer party in order to take Mario to Halloween Express. It seemed that quite a few other families were in our same boat. I picked out a NASCAR driver outfit and a 70s disco outfit and Maria was appalled. Luckily, my niece showed up soon after us. She has a son who Mario looks up to – Isaiah – who is a couple of years older than Mario. He’s a super cool kid. So when Isaiah  picked a nerd costume, Mario decided he’d go for the same. 

Mario begged Jon and I to go to his Halloween party on Tuesday afternoon. He still wants us to attend those school parties with him but he doesn’t want us near him at other events. The mind of a ten year old…. We both left work to go see him in his parade and to be there for his after-party. However, all we got was a brief wave when we spotted him in the crowd.  He was off with his friends the rest of the time. It’s as though we are his long-time stuffed animal – he just needs to know we are there to be comforted. Even though we were being ignored, we hung in there through the party we knew that this would likely be the last of them. Maria‘s grade doesn’t do parties anymore. 

Both kids got invited to friends’ houses to have dinner before Halloween and then go out with a huge crew of folks.  Maria got dressed at the house and then met her M&M partner over at her friend’s house. She allowed me to straighten her hair and put it in ponytails, which made me very happy. I think she has allowed me to do her hair about five times through her entire life. Mario got dressed on his own and Jon and I cracked up when he came downstairs. He looked absolutely ridiculous, and he embraced it. I gave them each a pillow sack to use to hold all their candy, and told them they better not come home until it was filled to the top. My usual instructions year in and year out. They rarely disappoint. 

I took Ri to her friend’s house and Jon took Mario to his friend’s house. The girls were still giddy as if they were in kindergarten. Except this year you could tell they were more concerned about how they looked, and what outfits they chose, then in actually getting candy. 

Mario and his friends were simply interested in wrestling and jumping on the trampoline. But when the time came to head out for candy, they all took off like cockroaches subjected to light. I tried to keep up with Mario and his crew but after three houses he turned around and gritted his teeth: “Mom, stop! Please leave us alone – we want to do this ourselves!” 

Mario and his buddies lasted until 7:15. I was not at the house when he returned or I would have forced him back outside until 8:00. He’s lucky…. Ri called me at around the same time Mario stopped trick-or-treating. She asked if Jon or I could pick her up. I was still out with my girlfriend’s daughter so I told her Jon would pick her up but she needed to walk with me and Mackenzie for a block to get the last bit of candy. She sighed but obliged because she loves me. 

We walked back to the house Mario and Jon were at, ate a few chips, and headed home. The kids laid out their candy on the dining room table as they have in years’ past and examined all they got. Mario couldn’t get too excited because he was ready to barf from eating 20+ pieces while out with his friends. You can see the nausea on his face!

All in all, another fine year of candy gathering but I really hope they let me walk with them next year. Wishful thinking, I know. 

I guess I will need to nab another 6 year old to walk with again.