The ducklings love the whole dressing up and begging for chocolate idea, but I haven’t let them do it up till now. When you spend all your time trying to bring your kids up to be well-behaved, it seems odd to tell them that on this night it’s okay to demand chocolate and threaten to be mean to people who don’t provide it. I love the idea of dressing up, but the “trick or treat” bit bothers me. But maybe countries that do the whole Halloween thing don’t take it that literally? I don’t know.
Anyway, tonight I was supposed to be away, and Daddy was going to take them to hit on the neighbours. As it turned out, my weekend away was cancelled, but I didn’t have the heart to cancel their Halloween plans as well. And they did look good in their outfits. Baby Duck was the world’s cutest vampire. They only visited the neighbours on each side, but still managed a good haul, so they were happy.
The pumpkin photo above is a birthday cake I made a couple of years ago for a scary-themed birthday party. At the same party we had severed fingers, bloodbaths, bats and gingerbread men with stakes through the heart. If you’re celebrating Halloween, I hope you have a good time. I’m sending you virtual Halloween treats:
And if you can explain how the trick-or-treat thing really works, you’d be helping a confused Aussie.
Generally, “Trick or Treat” is not taken so literally. In most neighborhoods I’ve lived in, if people don’t want to give out candy, they just don’t answer the door, and the kids just move on. But it’s fun to give out the candy and see the kids in their costumes.
Sometimes, and in some neighborhoods, there’s mischief like toilet paper in the trees or eggs thrown at a house or car. In some neighborhoods, those activities occur not on Halloween but on October 30 (variously called Beggar’s Night, Cabbage Night, and Mischief Night in the different areas where I’ve lived). Years ago, in some really stressed urban areas, the “mischief” on Oct. 30 turned to arson, which led to curfews and crackdowns. But I haven’t heard about that kind of thing recently.
Mostly, Halloween in the US is about ghost stories, pumpkins, candy, and costumes.
Wow. I’ve never even heard of the Beggar’s Night thing. I hope that doesn’t catch on here!