Well another Halloween has come and gone. It made me think of Andrew and just how much he disliked Halloween as a kid...who am I kidding he still dislikes it. Every year I would dress up my two little boys in these elaborate costumes that took forever to make and take them by the hand to go door to door to not only "talk to" but "take candy from" strangers. "Mommy you want me to talk to that man"? "Yes yes....go on up and go in his house he has candy for you"!This year with the H1N1 scare I contemplated dressing Emily up as a surgeon just so she could wear the gloves, scrubs and face mask. I have visions of parents all over the city wiping down each treat with copious amounts of Purell. You know the spray that they spray your bowling shoes with...that's what we all need. Yum! Andrew liked red gum balls, plain Hostess chips and Eatmore bars. First most gumballs given come in packs of four with different colors. Hostess chips not a problem and I have never seen Eatmores given out on Halloween. Needless to say as our little lambie would go...no be dragged to the door some poor homeowner would no doubt say what a cute little boy what are you? Andrew usually put the "a mutant ninja turtle - moron" look on his little five year old face and assess the treat situation like they had placed a neatly wrapped turd in front of his face. "No thank you I don't like licorice". "No thank you I only like red gumballs". "No thank you I'm allergic to apple juice". All the while Matt is opening his pillowcase and begging...."I'll take it I'll take it"! At the end of each Halloween night Matt would count his treasure trove of treats that would make any dentist scream in terror and Andrew would turn his pumpkin upside down...count his four gum balls and 5 bags of chips because that was all that fit in the pumpkin and vow to not go out next year. We stopped trick or treating a couple of years later as it was just torturous and started doing something fun on Halloween night - a movie, or bowling or whatever Andrew wanted to do and then would buy Matt whatever candy he wanted...and Andrew finally got his Eatmore bars. This year when I was getting ready to carve the pumpkin Emily said "No it's too scary". When I wanted to get her a costume "No thank you I no like trick or treat". You can see where this is going. We spent the night with friends last night who gave her a huge bucket of stuff...oh it was filled with cheese....yes I said cheese and chips and candy bars...and fun stuff....Emily dug down deep and with delight hauled out all the cheese and counted each one delighted in this whole Halloween gig if it meant a bucket full of cheese! Cheese...mercy. Let's just say not too many folks handing out cheese this Halloween..but Uncle Jimmy and Auntie Shelly are her heroes now! Don't be alarmed if you don't see us on Halloween we're probably holed up at home eating Eatmore bars, cheese cubes and heaven only knows what else! Donairs...yes that that would make Andrew smile! You now know why I have come to dislike Halloween myself!
