Growing up in a small town in upstate New York, Halloween was always one of my favorite holidays. I clearly remember the excitement of picking out my costume each year. It was always such a major decision, one of the few decisions elementary me could make on their own. I was a Barbie superhero, a ballerina, a witch, Hermione from Harry Potter and a penguin just to name a few. All of these costumes were of course after I insisted on dressing as Thomas the Tank Engine three years in a row.
Going to school on Halloween was like an all day party. First overachieving homeroom moms all trying to out-do each other would bring in trays and trays of baked good’s. I’m talking Halloween themed cupcakes, brownies, cookies, rice krispy treats, blondies, you name it they baked it. This meant that a portion of the day would be spent celebrating the holiday while eating as much sugary goodness as one could. Following the food fest my elementary school would hold a parade. A time when everyone would dress in his or her costume and walk through the halls of the school. Parents were welcome to attend and take pictures. I always felt extremely proud walking down the halls in my Halloween outfit. After all, I thought I looked pretty cool.
After school the evening usually consisted of carving pumpkins. Or as I liked to do pull all of the “guts” out of the pumpkin and letting my father handle the carving part. Then after a quick dinner it was time for the best part of the day, Trick-or-treating time. In my neighborhood this was not an event to be taken lightly. This was a hardcore mission, to go to as many houses and gather as much candy as humanly possible. I usually went with my brother and our neighbors Lauren and Greg. Forget about pumpkin shaped buckets we all brought pillowcases. This way there was no way we could not fit all the candy in out container. Sometimes I would get cold or my feet would ache but I knew that if I wanted to stay with my brother I would have to walk (sometimes run) fast enough. After all this was a mission and I would be left behind if I could not keep up.
By the time we finally got home, everyone dumped out their candy and counted. First seeing who go the most and then trading with each other to get the kinds we liked best. I don’t ever remember being ripped off, but apparently according to my parents, my brother used this trading session to trick me into giving him more of my candy than he gave me. All that was fine though, I always had enough candy to last me for months to come.
I think that in the life of a young child what makes Halloween so exciting is that it is so different from most other days of the year. Let’s recap. How many days of the year can a child get away with wearing a costume, eating loads of sugary treats before lunch, pulling guts out of a pumpkin and then decorating it, running around the neighborhood ringing door bells and demanding candy from strangers and then possessing more candy than they know what to do with? Not to mention many years this is all on a school night. Did I love Halloween as a child? Of course, I did, who wouldn’t! Although it may be annoying to answer the door all night long handing out candy to children, it is important to remember the joy that Halloween brings.
Kiersten Writes 
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