Halloween Hangover

It's over. Another Halloween behind us. 

By 3 p.m. yesterday, I definitely was at my Halloween threshold. I had taken the twins to their playgroup for a tiny Halloween celebration, and it was overload at one point for me. They spent the afternoon at their grandparents while I fussed over Box Tops for Education at Big Girl's school, trying to make yesterday's mailing deadline. With two days of "no school" the Box Tops were going to be overdue if I didn't get them out the door.

Big Girl did not have a costume day at her school. She didn't have a party, snack or craft in honor of the holiday. It is what it is, I guess. Elementary school is coming to an end. Last year, the school changed the celebratory food policy, meaning we cannot bring outside food in for parties. You have to order through food service. Had I thought there would be nothing, I would have secured a snack for the class. But, again, it is what it is. 

After a rushed afternoon of homework, piano practice and a quick house pick-up, it was time for trick-or-treating. My parents came to dole out our candy, and my nephew arrived for our walk around our block. 

It was definitely an interesting experience with the twins:

• Bunny Twin refused to walk. We had to pull her in the wagon, and take her out at every stop. (She has a newfound fear of the road/cars after she was taking a walk with my mom and my neighbor pulled up in his loud truck and idled right behind them. She freaked out and tried to climb up my mother's leg. So now she won't "walk" in any road (or sometimes parking lot) and needs to ride or be held. It is definitely not easy managing this new fear!) She was appropriate dressed as a princess riding in her "carriage" and ordering my husband around on how fast he should pull her. 
• Bunny Twin also invited herself in the first house we went to -- walked right in and started walking around. I was like "What are you doing?" but cut her some slack because she didn't "get" the trick-or-treating thing. At least we know the people :)
• Buddy Twin insisted on talking to every homeowner forever. A sample: "Those are stairs" (pointing in the house). "Do you have a dog?" peeking in the house. "Oh WOW!" while peeking in at just about everything. "A candle!" (pointing to candle). He could go on forever. I expected he might invite himself in for a cup of tea at any of the houses.
• Buddy Twin was also very polite: He always said "Thank you!" and "Happy Halloween!" at every house. I love my little boy. My sister-in-law told him he had good manners and proudly he agreed.
• Bunny Twin was obsessed -- OBSESSED -- with all the glow-in-the-dark gear we had. She was totally focused on the neon bracelets and necklaces. I think Halloween was more about those for her than the actual candy.
• Neither twin would wear their "head gear" -- no crown for the princess or hat for the farmer. (Can I reiterate again how THRILLED I am not to have spent real money on these costumes? Bunny and Buddy Twin's costumes combined cost me $2 -- for a bandana and hat at the dollar store for Buddy Twin. I think he put on the hat for 10 minutes the first time he wore the costume.

Big Girl was a fox, as I said, and ended up losing her tail during trick-or-treating. I think I was the most upset about this. And only because I hope to recycle that costume in the future for either of the girls. I still plan on trying to scout it out tomorrow in the neighborhood. Of course, that's the costume I spent money on, and the stupid tail fell off the first of the three times she wore it. (I pinned it on last night, but apparently not good enough. Next time, I will use my instincts and spend more time with a needle and thread instead of safety pins instead of trying to let it remain detachable.) 

This Halloween just reinforced the lesson I learned last year. It's not worth it to spend major money on costumes. It's better to be creative with what you have or go really cheap. We almost didn't have a Halloween again due to the weather, and many area communities did cancel trick-or-treating because of widespread power outages. Who knows what might happen next year? 

I even stayed cheap on our trick-or-treating vessels. Big Girl has a Potter Barn bag with her name on it, but her favorite thing is the traditional plastic pumpkin. I wanted to get the cute bags for the little ones with their names on it. Then Big Girl persuaded me to get the plastic pumpkins in the top pic, especially since they have  lots of colors. "It's the traditional thing," she told me, and she's right, since it's the same thing I used in my youth. And they cost me $1 each at Walmart. And the twins love them. So now we have three plastic buckets for candy collecting.

Big Girl wants to be a witch next year, and I am thrilled about that since it is so easy. I plan on scouting out post-Halloween sales as soon as possible!!