The Costume Box: This was one of my favorite things as a kid. We had a big barrel, I have no idea where it came from, but it was full of random items we used for costumes. They included my mom's old prom dresses, costume jewelry, crazy colored tights and my dad's army uniform. There were old hats, masks and other random items that always started us on the path to excellent and unique Halloween costumes every fall. These days, people buy new costumes every year, but we didn't have the money to do that, and I think this was more fun. I have a costume bin, and it's full of fun and fanciful things that will someday have the prestige of being part of a Halloween costume, and many that have gotten plenty of use by myself and my friends. If you don't have one, start a costume box this year. Before you throw that loud, trendy vest into the bag that's bound for the thrift store, ask yourself how it would look accessorizing next year's zombie costume (I'm not saying anything about your fashion sense, here. The keyword is trendy -- it'll be out next fall.) Old glasses, hats and other unique things are also a lot of fun to have on hand. And the costume box needn't be used only in the fall. Little kids love to play dress up, so let 'em have at it, and take some pictures!
Trick Or Treat Dinner: My family didn't do this, but I loved the sound of this tradition. My friend's family has done this every year, and it's something that her kids now look forward to. Trick or Treat Dinner includes their family's special chili recipe, cornbread and cider, along with some other (healthy) treats before the pint-sized tricksters hit the road for their own stash of treats. Since getting everyone into their costumes and all prepped for the festivities can be a crazy time, this dinner need not be fancy, and you don't need to do chili. Maybe your family's tradition is to order a pizza that the kids munch on while mom applies the finishing touches to everybody's costumes. Traditions are merely things that happen consistently, that everyone can look forward to. I did love the idea of the chili, cornbread and cider, though. So Fall-ish. YUM.
Spreading the Stash: When we got home from trick-or-treating, we had a little ritual that we would do at our house. We would sit on the floor in the living room with our pillow case of candy in front of us. Each would dump his pillow case on the carpet in front of him, and proceed to go through the loot, admiring our treasures. In the kid year, this was a highlight, since we knew this was the most candy we would see at one time for the entire year. We would weed out stuff we didn't like, and trade with each other items that we found to be more desirable. Once all the bartering had taken place, my mom would give us a container or specific number of treats that we could pick out and keep. The rest of an individual's loot went into a different container, marked individually with each of our names, that would be put up somewhere for safe keeping, to be doled out in the future as she saw fit. This kept things a lot less hyper around our house the week after Halloween, and also spread the joy for a lot longer than it would have lasted had we been allowed to plow through the stash unchecked. Funny that my mom was doing that as a practical matter, and now it's one of my favorite memories of Halloween.
These days most of us wouldn't take the kids out into the neighborhood to Trick-or-Treat, but most churches, schools and malls offer some sort of trunk-or-treat or other activity where kids can participate in this fun tradition without fear of problems. If you don't have kids, but you miss the glory days of the annual Trick-or-Treat, these types of activities are a fun excuse to get dressed up and join in the festivities...passing out the treats this time, of course! Whatever you do to celebrate this year, be safe and have fun!
Now Go Make History!
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