two-faced halloween

I love Halloween -- love it. However, it's a tricky holiday to celebrate. If you're not careful, it can be really gross and weird. I applaud the parents that are able to draw the line between whimsical and weird and spooky and scary. It's a hard balance to strike.

Most little kids imagine and participate in The Whimsical Halloween. They write poems about witches that ride around on broomsticks through a cloudy, moonlit night and stories about haunted houses with unexpectedly hilarious endings. They squeal at slimy pumpkin guts and carve happy, toothless jack-o-lanterns. They dress up in innocent costumes -- dinosaurs, superheroes, princesses, ballerinas -- and go trick-or-treating at a descent hour.

Fortunately, these kids know nothing about the The Icky Halloween. I hate when it gets dark and the cockroaches come out to play: creepers who dress up in rubber masks and knock on strangers' doors at dangerous hours of the night, and sleazy girls who dress up in sleazy costumes. It also kills me to see the remains of helpless pumpkins who were smashed to smithereens by morons who think that kind of thing is funny.

Luckily, I only experienced The Whimsical Halloween this year and was able to evade the cockroaches. I dressed up for work and paraded the kindergartners around the school for the upper grades to see. They were so excited -- not only to be dressed up, but to see the older kids and their parents waving and cheering for them. I poked my head in and out of different classroom parties and confess that I bartered for one-too-many fun-sized Snickers bars. And thank goodness for moms: frosted sugar cookies are divine. When work was through, I removed my mouse attire, changed into comfy clothes, and spent the remainder of the evening with family. We passed out candy to the trick-or-treaters, ate chili, and watched a funny (note: not scary) movie. It was a hilarious evening. I felt blessed to be safe in laughter and love.