Halloween Memories and Traditions

Ever since our kids grew up and moved away, things are a bit different around our house at Halloween time. 

Gone are the days when we felt excitement relief, when our kids absolutely LOVED the costumes we made found, (and most times at the very last minute.)  No more trudging through snow and sub zero temperatures,(we live in Minnesota), because they absolutely HAD to have a full pail, before we headed home.

Yes, those days of dumping out the candy and checking for razor blades are over.  As are the late night wake-up calls, because someone's tummy didn't feel too good.

Oh, how we miss those days.

But truth be told-there were a lot more good memories of Halloween past, than there were bad.

You know the kind.  Those 'precious' moments.

 Moments that no matter how much time passes-you will never forget them.

Like your child's very first Halloween....
  If you asked me what Mel's first costume was-I would say I have absolutely no idea.  BUT, if you asked me what happened that night, I would not only remember, I would shed a few tears as the image of of her putting her tiny(sweaty) hand in mine, and walking up the steps to our neighbors house.  I can still see her big blue eyes behind her mask-wide and somewhat frightened, as the neighbor lady opened the door.  We'd gone over what she was supposed to say (Trick or Treat) a thousand times-but all was forgotten when she saw the giant candy bar be plopped down into her plastic pumpkin.  Several seconds ticked by, and when I was just about to remind her what to say-she spoke.  Had I not been standing right next to her, I would never had it heard.  Just a mere whisper-but those words filled my heart with more pride than any other....'thank you!'  I'm sure thousands of kids said those words that Halloween night-but all that mattered was mine had.  By the time we reached the second house, Mel grew more confident, and not only said 'thank you', but 'Trick or Treat' too.  Of course it didn't exactly sound like that-since she was missing one of her front teeth. But the neighbors thought she was adorable, and so did I. Especially since, even though she was becoming a 'big' girl, she still wanted to hold my hand.

As the years passed, Halloween became more than just the frantic search for the perfect costume, or the thrill of trick or treating.  It became a time for building traditions.


Like-Carving pumpkins............
In the beginning- Mel was too little to actually carve the pumpkins, so instead, I had her draw the face she wanted on the pumpkin (and I would do the same on mine), and then I would take knife in hand and carve them out.  Inevitably, Mel would always win the competition!  And no-not because I let her-but because she had an imagination, and wasn't afraid to step outside the box.  Whereas, I was lucky if I could draw the standard diamond shaped eyes!!! And the mouth, well, that was always a disaster!

But even though I couldn't win a pumpkin carving competition to save my life-I wouldn't have given up those moments of pure joy and laughter for anything.  And the best part was-we had created a tradition that would last long after Mel stopped trick or treating.


Another long withstanding tradition was filling trick or treat bags.............
As silly as it sounds-way back when, our neighborhood was very competitive when it came to Halloween treats.  It had to be BIG-and it had to be good!!  Of course it wasn't SO far back that we could make something homemade, so we always made a trip to the store the weekend before Halloween, and picked out bags and bags of candy.  Two nights before Halloween, Mel and I would sit at the kitchen table and fill those bags as full as we could.  Bubble gum, candy bars, suckers-what have you-but it HAD to be different (and better) every year.

When Mel was old enough to go trick or treating around our small neighborhood with her friends, she would always be the first one home, just so she could help hand out our candy!  Maybe it was the memory of seeing that BIG candy bar her first time, that always put a smile on her face every time  a child would 'Ooh' and 'Ah' at the bag she dropped in their bucket!

As time went on, things changed, as they always do.  Trick or treating had long become a thing of the past for, Mel.  And soon, so did the pumpkin carving and filling the trick or treat bags, when she went off to college.

I won't lie-that first Halloween with her, was pretty tough.  But even so- I was determined not to let those traditions we built be lost.  So, even though Mel wasn't there to laugh at my creation-I still carved a pumpkin every year.

As you can see from this year's pumpkin-my skills have NOT improved over the years!!!

Thankfully, it will be dark when the trick or treaters come calling tomorrow night, and no one will be the wiser!

And yes, I still fill those bags of treats as full as I can.

And like Mel, I smile every time a child comes to the door, and their eyes widen as I plop the bag into their bucket!

Hopefully some day, Mel will pass down these Halloween traditions to her children-or, better yet-create some of her own.

A few years back, after hubby and I were married, I created another Halloween tradition, just for the two of us.  Since neither one of us eat much candy (except for chocolate of course), I decided to make a special 'homemade' treat every year to enjoy while we hand out the goodies to the kiddo's.

I'll be sharing my recipe for this year's YUMMY treat-tomorrow!

Blessing to all,

Christine