Last year at this time we were making ready to move from our tumbledown shack on the campus of Amy’s school and were in no mind to prepare festivities of an All Hallows’ Eve nature. Â Nearly all of our belongings had been packed away into boxes and we were well into the phase of pre-moving “eat everything so the fridge is easier to move.” Â (As a bit of a sidebar, we put everything that had gone bad or we didn’t want into a box with intent to throw it out and somebody very helpfully grabbed it and put it in the truck. Â It may well have been me. Â Moving is a ridiculously hectic time) Â As a result, we were completely unprepared for Trick-or-Treaters. Â In our defense, to that point we had never had anybody come looking for candy and it had become something of a low priority. Â We had bought candy every preceding year and been forced to eat all of it myself (a real hardship) but we had no desire at all to box up candy and move it to the new place to be eaten.
We were continuing to box up our Earthly goods that evening when a knock came at our door. Â Our neighbours’ little girl was out for her first real Halloween (previous years she had taken the ‘go and see family members in costume and have pictures taken’ route). Â I can’t remember what she was dressed as but I knew we couldn’t disappoint her at the very first house she had ever visited. Â Fortunately, I had a plan.
Each year my parents put together Easter baskets for us. Â This tradition started years and years ago when we were quite small. Â Usually there are jelly beans, chocolate eggs, those marshmallow eggs with a hardish candy shell (I love them, most people hate them so I am more than happy to take them off siblings’ hands) and one big solid bunny. Â A pound of chocolate takes a very, very long time to eat and so from childhood I’ve had the habit of keeping it in the freezer and breaking off big chunks whenever I needed a fix. Â The previous year’s easter bunny was one of the eight things left in our freezer and I brought it out with much ceremony.
“Do you like chocolate?”
*big eyes gleaming and the nodding of a pig-tailed head*
“Here you go.”
The pound of chocolate was nearly more than she could carry but she hauled it down to the driveway where her parents were nearly falling over laughing.
For contrast, this year we have had a total of three kids, none of whom were dressed up.  They each carried a pair of skates (we live down the street from the arena) and held them out.  Each got an Oh Henry and I have been sitting and eating Reese Peanut Butter Cups for the last few hours.  Halloween is the best holiday (though I think I will blow up some stuff for Guy Fawkes’ Day on  Thursday).