Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Halloween Candy Overload

I was not on top of things enough to post a favorite Halloween story (no surprise there). However, I can relate a post-Halloween story. It is a sad tale of sugar excess and costume-less moments. In short, it is a story of a mom who no longer has trick-or-treaters in the house.

I loved to trick-or-treat when I was a kid. All that free candy? Yum. Even if my mom did confiscate it and only dole it out in reasonable amounts. As an older sister, I went out past the traditional age, little sisters in tow. Of course I wore a costume, usually one of my father's moth eaten flannel shirts and a pair of old jeans (as a bum, the perennial favorite costume of lazy trick-or-treaters everywhere).

And then my daughter came along, and I stopped worrying about my costume and started putting all my energy into her costumes. One year I was very proud of, she was three or four, I turned a pair of pink footie pajamas and a pair of bunny ears into a pink bunny costume by the simple application of a cute little bunny tail (it was cold that year, and she didn't even have to put a coat over her costume). We drew on whiskers, naturally (those dollar store masks aren't a good idea when you're navigating uneven sidewalks at dusk).

Through the years I've been spottily inspired. There was the year I made a princess costume, complete with pointed cap with veil (which fell off every time my daughter turned her head). And then there were the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle years for my sons. And, of course, Harry Potter (my youngest looked just like him, including the scar, when he was 11). I was very proud of that golden snitch we put in a cage and carried on the hilt of the broom.

But those years are gone. And this year no one came to trick or treat at our house (the cycle of growth is such that there are no small children in our immediate neighborhood, and we live out of the way of regular traffic -- one of dh's colleagues had over a hundred trick-or-treaters, so it isn't that the tradition is dying by any means). Which meant...I got to keep all the candy I bought just in case we did have visitors.

All the candy you want sounds great when you're a kid. But for me? I'm thinking next year I'm going to have to advertise to get kids to the house. Or maybe move to a more popular trick-or-treating neighborhood. Or buy less candy?...nah. It wouldn't be Halloween without the candy.

Kelly
(1/3 of the candy stash down, 2/3 to go)

3 comments:

Wendy Toliver said...

This year my husband bought back the boys' candy for $1 a pound (ish) and so where does the candy go? To the hiding place, which of course he told me about. So little by little, the candy is disappearing and I'm afraid I'm the only one sneaking it. Sigh.

Jennifer Echols said...

I always try to buy candy that everyone seems to like but me. This year I slipped and bought Hershey's Kisses. I'm happy to say we will be rid of it soon, at the rate I'm eating it.

Kelly McClymer said...

Wendy -- No one in my house can hide anything from me (except me, when it comes to keys, cell phone, etc.). Hmmm, maybe no one else can hide anything because I'm *always* looking for those darned keys?

Jenn--Buying candy that you don't like is a smart idea. Unfortunately, there isn't much I don't like. My fillings and caps don't like the taffyish stuff. But the rest? I just can't see the percentage in giving out Bottle Caps and Peppermint rounds. That would be as bad as making homemade popcorn balls -- or giving out raisins.

Sigh. I even love raisins.