Halloween Candy and Dad

Growing up with three siblings made Halloween a big event in our house. We usually fit into a few different categories as far as costumes go, mainly because we were so far enough apart in age that our Halloween preferences shifted. My younger sisters would attend an afternoon Halloween party, usually dressed as a ballerina or princess while my brother and I had one goal in mind: candy collection.

We debated about which costume we would wear starting in August, making our mind up by the time school began in September, and then changing our minds on October 30th. My Mom would scatter about town to collect all of the supplies- masks, makeup, wigs, etc. I remember being a chef, a mime, and a clown. I don't remember much about the costumes, because it was not really the priority.

My father would start us getting ready early, as my Mom insisted we have a nice dinner because we would be eating so much candy that the food in our stomachs would help. Dad always stuck up for us, convinced Mom that we would be fine and got us into the car at dusk. We drove to the neighborhoods that were farthest from the house and worked our way back toward home throughout the night. Just when you thought you were done, Dad would get us in the car and we would drive onto another neighborhood.

There were a couple of cool things about my Dad on Halloween. First, is that he always had a mask to wear and always managed to scare us. Second, is that he was routing for you! He wanted you to fill the pillowcase with candy to the very top and he didn't care if it took all night. Sometimes I would be so tired and want to go home, but I knew that it's not like I could just knock on doors and get more candy tomorrow night, so I better just keep at it until I got more than enough candy.

When we got back home, my brother and I would dump our pillowcases onto the carpet in the living room. My Mom would go through one pile and my Dad would go through another, checking to be sure the candy was safe. We threw away the apples and anything else that seemed like it could be a risk. When my parents said it was okay, we sat there for quite a while, sorting out our candy by type, brand and flavor. Once we sorted out everything, we would take a look at each other's side of the room. Before continuing on, we looked to see who had the most candy. It was usually me. Trick or Treating brought out another side of me and I would not have a problem asking someone for another Twix.

We would sit on the floor, opposite of each other for a long time. We would pick a couple of things that we wanted to eat right away. For me, this was always chocolate. Then we would trade back and forth. "I will trade you a Vanilla Charleston Chew for your Reese's Peanut Butter Cup." That is not a good trade. But somehow I could convince my brother to give me one good thing if I gave him two or three bad ones. "Okay, I will give you the vanilla chew, I will add TWO packs of Smarties, and the (eensy weensy smallest box ever) box of Nerds." He would totally take that offer because he was getting four pieces and only having to give up one. He would also regret that trade later, because you should never give up a Reese's Cup. Everyone knows that.

My Dad would request payment for taking us out all night, and we were happy to oblige. He would examine all of the candy spread out on the carpet and would make a few requests based on our inventories. If we only had one of something, he would not ask us for that piece. We would offer him up our unwanted goods as well- Bit O Honeys, Mary Janes, Black Licorice, Smarties, and probably the Top Two Worst Trick or Treat receipts of all time: Toothbrushes and Raisins!

At school the next day, my Mom would have put some candy in my lunch and I would sit with the other kids and they would tell me how much candy they got the night before. I was always surprised that most kids only went trick or treating for an hour or so and landed half a plastic pumpkin full of goods. My Dad always took us all night long until the porch lights started turning off because the candy ran out. We would continue on for hours and we filled our pillowcases to the top. I'm sure my father was tired from working all day and wanted to hang out with my Mom. But he saw the importance of this crucial holiday for kids and became one of us for just one night.