Halloween: Hide or Treat

So just yesterday I was chatting with a couple of the guys about Halloween, how much candy to buy, and what time the little jokers would be showing up in our neighborhood. In short, I told them I haven’t had much to do with Halloween festivities for several years now which prompted the question as to what I did instead. I said that I just turned off all the lights and hid in the back of the house. That’s normal, right? Apparently not.

Back when the kiddos were younger, I used to have my niece and nephews over for our annual pumpkin carving sleep-over party, typically a week or two before Halloween. We’d carve pumpkins, often dress up in costume, and then I’d load them up with junk food and soft drinks before they went to bed really late. They basically thought I was the coolest aunt ever. Afterwards and since the house was already decorated, on Halloween night I’d gladly hand out candy.

As they’ve grown older their busy schedules have made it hard to get all of them together so we just kind of let the tradition go. That would also be when I stopped decorating my house. It started with the brief time I lived in an apartment (acceptable excuse), then the next year my house was mid-renovation, then I was just lame making up excuses so much so that it became just another habit: to hide from the trick-or-treaters.

But this year I’m breaking that habit. I remember sitting with a neighbor last year while she was being awesome and handing out candy. I said then that I would be all in this year. And you know what??? It’s been a lot of fun decorating! As it turned out, I had a whole lot of old decorations in my garage. I added those items with a couple of Amazon finds.

Full Body Skeleton
60 Piece Black 3D Bats
6 Foot Scary Spider
Dog Cowboy Costume

And then I discovered the Dollar Tree. And they had ALL THE THINGS THERE – so finally I was ready to decorate. It’s nothing elaborate but just a fun way to interact with neighbors. And of course to be ready for all of the trick-or-treaters this year.

And I even had a helper over the weekend to hang a few ghosts.

Today I’ll add a few finishing touches like eyeballs and skulls in my pond. I’ll also add little ghosts and pumpkins along the sidewalk, but the candy has been purchased and I’m ready.

So tell me….do you love seeing all the kids dressed up? Or do you find yourself hiding like your life depends on it? Either way I hope you have a great Halloween!