puppetmaker | Nov. 1st, 2006

Once everything was set-up, it was a lot of fun. Our street is very popular to trick or treat on and we get cars of kids from other areas on ours to get their goodies. We give out comic books and are very popular. It is so much fun to see a kid's eyes light up when they see what we have given them. To a brother and sister I gave a two part series which means they are going to have to share to read the whole story.

Best costume went to a large kid who dressed up as Cartman from South Park in his patrol outfit. (Respect my Authority) It looked great and I so wished I could have gotten a picture. Lots of Batmans and only one Superman this year. Power Rangers are still popular. More kids wearing costume that were made rather than bought. The scream mask is still very popular. More high school kids not dressing up but trick or treating any way. A number of people we know from the bowling alley came by with their kids. It started at 4:20 and the last customer was at 9:15. We gave away a lot of comics.

Caroline's behavior last year and this year was very different. Last year she went trick or treating and got into it but I don't think she had a total comprehension of what was going on. She would walk up to the door with Ariel and might say something or might not. She did say thank you when she got candy.

This year she went right to the door a step ahead of Ariel and knocked shouting "Trick or Treat!" Once the door was opened she was say, 'Happy Halloween' and get her treat for which we did more times than not got her to say thank you. She really got into it. We ended up going with Belle so she was Belle and I was Mrs. Pots (Yes we have pictures). Ariel took my fairy costume and we resized it for her and she went as the blue fairy. After about a dozen houses Caroline declared that she wanted to go home. I am not going to push her to do something she doesn't want to do if she doesn't need to. Ariel pouted a bit because we hadn't gotten to the "good" houses. Later we got her hooked up with some school buddies and they went around getting the good stuff.

Once home Caroline wanted to help give out the treats and say Hi to everyone who came to the door. She passed out candy that she didn't want from her basket to the kids along with some that we had for the non-readers of the groups (2 and under). I then let her help me with the comic books. We had a system. The bell would ring. Caroline would run to the door and shout Happy Halloween BOOO! And then she would help me distribute stuff. She interacted with all the kids that came to the door. Many really didn't know what to make of her but the parents all thought she was adorable, as did all the female teenagers. She had a grand time but started getting into that state that she needed to sleep because she was on information overload so with considerable protest we got her to bed. She fell asleep pretty promptly since she hadn't had a nap yesterday.

When asked this morning she declared that she had a lot of fun and really like Halloween. She was a bit disappointed to find out that it was a one-day event like Birthday parties. She knows that the next Holiday is Thanksgiving and then it will be Caroline's Birthday which she is looking forward to.

I am grateful for sharing last night with my daughter.