Alana Smith
Gosh, Halloween was so much fun as a kid. Dressing up, eating too much candy and staying up way past your bedtime always made for the best night.
We had a good trick-or-treating neighborhood too: flat roads, lots of kids and not too much traffic. My brother and I would get dressed in our costumes and wait for the dark. We’d sit out on our porch, holding our empty Halloween bags, waiting on our friends across the street so we could all head down the road together. Those minutes would pass so slowly and I can still feel the anticipation.
When everyone was finally ready, we’d take off at a sprint to the first house with its porch lights on. Our parents trailed way behind, yelling, “Make sure to say thank you!” and “Let your brother go first!” We were thrilled when the owners of the house opened the door in costume with a good “BOO!” or exclaimed, “aren’t you the best witch I’ve ever seen!” The good neighbors made all the difference.
When we had more candy than we could carry, or when our parents were tired of walking, we’d head on back home. We had already eaten several of our favorites (Reese’s Cups and Kit Kats) as we walked, but we would dump our haul of candy in the middle of the living room floor to count and sort and generally be in awe over.
My dad would always say, “Give me a Snickers. Gotta make sure it’s safe, you know,” and he would confiscate one from each of us. We’d pile up all the chocolate and Skittles and Smarties and then push aside the Twizzlers and Bottlecaps and strawberry-wrapped hard candy for someone who didn’t like the good stuff. And then we ate. We ate and ate and didn’t care if we ended up with a stomach ache. My mom would say, “That’s enough,” and we’d say, “But it’s Halloween!” and then we’d eat some more. I think I even slept in my
costume once.
So now, as a parent, Halloween is really special to me. I think it’s more fun now watching it through my children’s eyes than it was as a kid, honestly. My husband doesn’t love the Halloween tradition, but I think it’s because his memories of it aren’t as comforting as mine.
So, I do my best to make it memorable for my boys. We go all out on costumes and decorations. We carve the pumpkin even though I hate the insides. We eat all the candy. We stay up late watching “Hocus Pocus.” We leave the porch light on and trick-or-treat until the bags are full or someone’s too tired to walk. And I can’t wait to do it again this year.
So, here’s to trick-or-treating ‘til you drop and having the best Halloween with your family!
Happy October, y’all!
Alana is a nurse anesthetist, writer and boy mom (ages 8 and 3), who lives in north Shelby County with her husband, kids and Boxer, Sam. When she’s not writing or chasing little humans, she can usually be found in the aisles of Target. She shares her writings at Holy Moly Motherhood (on Facebook and Instagram), where she takes on all things motherhood and marriage.
