Halloween Grinch
Oct. 31st, 2007 10:39 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pen_gruntHappy Halloween.
Okay, I'll confess. Halloween just doesn't do it for me. It's too close to Christmas--and boy, do I want Christmas. Today I'll go and buy some bags of candy to hand out to the kids that show up at our doorstep, but it almost wasn't to be.
The first Halloween at our house we decked out the place (so much so that we got compliments from our new neighbors). We piped scary music out of the upstairs windows, handed out oodles of candy, etc. We found out that our neighborhood is comprised of a few cute kids and a bunch of obnoxious teens that want to take fistfuls of candy and run off when you politely tell them to leave some for other kids.
The second Halloween in our house, I was at Disney World for work. I was staying in the Disney planned community (Celebration), and Halloween was insanely magical. Polite, costumed children walked around the idyllic setting, streets were blocked off so kids could be safe, everyone was out and about. Derrick handed out some candy at our house back in MN and continued to become disillusioned. Celebration threw into sharp relief the type of kids WE have in our neighborhood.
The third Halloween I was too tired to hand out candy, so I left the task to Derrick. He had to tell kids, among other things, that if they were old enough to be smoking on the way up to our doorstep, they were too old for candy. To which they replied that they weren't actually old enough to be smoking at 12, and so they DESERVED candy. Um. No. That was also the Halloween of non-costumed teenagers demanding fistfuls of candy. At least the teens the first year made an effort to dress up.
So here we are, the fourth Halloween in our house. We entertained the idea of shutting off our lights and pretending not to participate, but then we were reminded of what a truly cool thing it is to see a little Dora-the-Explorer toddle up the steps and politely ask for a "trick or treat". So there will be candy, but I'm tempted to award it on a sliding scale:
2-3 pieces that they choose for cute little polite kids in costumes
2 pieces that they choose for older kids in costumes
1 sacrificial piece that we choose (chocolate for good kids, black licorice for bad kids) for teens in costumes
No pieces for no costumes. No pieces for bratty smokers. No pieces for kids that feel that they deserve candy just because it's Halloween.
Yeah, I'm a big ole' Halloween grinch. Our house would be TP'd and egged, no?
Okay, I'll confess. Halloween just doesn't do it for me. It's too close to Christmas--and boy, do I want Christmas. Today I'll go and buy some bags of candy to hand out to the kids that show up at our doorstep, but it almost wasn't to be.
The first Halloween at our house we decked out the place (so much so that we got compliments from our new neighbors). We piped scary music out of the upstairs windows, handed out oodles of candy, etc. We found out that our neighborhood is comprised of a few cute kids and a bunch of obnoxious teens that want to take fistfuls of candy and run off when you politely tell them to leave some for other kids.
The second Halloween in our house, I was at Disney World for work. I was staying in the Disney planned community (Celebration), and Halloween was insanely magical. Polite, costumed children walked around the idyllic setting, streets were blocked off so kids could be safe, everyone was out and about. Derrick handed out some candy at our house back in MN and continued to become disillusioned. Celebration threw into sharp relief the type of kids WE have in our neighborhood.
The third Halloween I was too tired to hand out candy, so I left the task to Derrick. He had to tell kids, among other things, that if they were old enough to be smoking on the way up to our doorstep, they were too old for candy. To which they replied that they weren't actually old enough to be smoking at 12, and so they DESERVED candy. Um. No. That was also the Halloween of non-costumed teenagers demanding fistfuls of candy. At least the teens the first year made an effort to dress up.
So here we are, the fourth Halloween in our house. We entertained the idea of shutting off our lights and pretending not to participate, but then we were reminded of what a truly cool thing it is to see a little Dora-the-Explorer toddle up the steps and politely ask for a "trick or treat". So there will be candy, but I'm tempted to award it on a sliding scale:
2-3 pieces that they choose for cute little polite kids in costumes
2 pieces that they choose for older kids in costumes
1 sacrificial piece that we choose (chocolate for good kids, black licorice for bad kids) for teens in costumes
No pieces for no costumes. No pieces for bratty smokers. No pieces for kids that feel that they deserve candy just because it's Halloween.
Yeah, I'm a big ole' Halloween grinch. Our house would be TP'd and egged, no?
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no subject
Date: 2007-10-31 04:18 pm (UTC)A Disney Planned Community? That sounds scary even without Halloween!
no subject
Date: 2007-10-31 04:21 pm (UTC)The biggest changes from a normal community are the abnormal frequency of old-fashioned ice cream parlors and soda shoppes. That, and the houses have big FRONT yards with big porches, and almost no back yards--so the neighbors are encouraged to socialize.
no subject
Date: 2007-10-31 07:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-31 11:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-01 03:29 pm (UTC)So, you were staying in a hotel in said planned community?
no subject
Date: 2007-11-01 03:49 pm (UTC)Celebration hotel is right on a lake...it has dark-wood rooms with four-poster beds...
*sigh* It is fabulous. Idyllic. Wonderful.
no subject
Date: 2007-11-01 04:05 pm (UTC)But it does sound like a great place to stay . ..
no subject
Date: 2007-10-31 05:41 pm (UTC)That's bloody brilliant! How could you not reward perfect logic like that? Those kids are going to grow up to be lawyers some day, I'll bet.
no subject
Date: 2007-10-31 06:47 pm (UTC)But yeah, I'm going to hope for lawyers--with a little less brat and a lowered sense of entitlement.