Tuesday, October 19, 2021

No More Trick Or Treaters In Our House

 

My kids had been at the neighbor's house playing outside for hours. I called them home to give the parents a bit of break. "Can we go back over after chores?" a mini asks. I indulge, as long as it's okay with her parents. Afterall, we've been gone for nearly a month and they haven't had their usual socialization. They spoke excitedly about a Halloween party. I half listened, half quickly changed the subject, so we could get chores underway.

"The quicker chores are done, the quicker you can get back to your friends." Not surprisingly, chores were done in record time. Three hours later they came back home holding a shopping list for me.

"Here this is for our Halloween party. It's all day Saturday October 30th," the middle mini spat out, along with a dozen other details I couldn't identify due to the speed at which he spoke.

"Oh, so are you doing the party and then heading out trick or treating?" I asked, curious about how they planned this. I made a mental note to text the neighbors and make sure this was actually happening or if it was one of their many things they'd planned just for fun. 

"No, we're not going trick or treating," the youngest mini said. The words caught me off guard. I knew the 13 year old didn't want to go, while the 11 year old was on the fence, leaning towards no if it meant he went to a haunted house instead. The youngest, at only 9, I thought would be with me for the night. I knew it was only a matter of time before I had zero trick or treaters to get ready on Beggars Night, but I certainly didn't think it would be this year.

Last year we didn't do the typical trick or treating. We skipped Beggars Night and instead, dropped off Halloween surprises at family and friends houses on the 31st. The minis dressed up and we were able to see people we hadn't seen in months. It was special and will stick out in my mind forever. I fully expected the minis to be in full trick or treat mode this year. I can't say I was prepared to hear I had no plans for Beggars Night other than to hand out candy to other trick or treaters (and make sure my children' didn't destroy the neighbor's house with their party).

We are passed the ages of the fun trick or treating events around the city. There's no more heading to the zoo to get candy or playing games at Living History Farms. We've outgrown all of that and apparently good ole' fashioned trick or treating too. I can't say I'm sad or upset about any of it. I believe I once wrote about my children's lasts....the last year believing in Santa, the last trick or treat, the last magic of childhood slipping away. I think I thought I would be sad.

But it's not. I'm not. I'm fully relishing in this new big kid phase we find ourselves in. Sure there's a lot more mouthiness (they are my children after all), more sleeping in, and a lot more opinions to consider. It's also kind of lonely. I realized a day that was once hectic and migraine inducing, was now a day I had free (thanks to my neighbors willing to host this Halloween party we know very little about). 

"Maybe we can order take out and watch a scary movie with the dog while they're at their all day party," I suggested to my husband. A mini happened to overhear it and asked us not to watch an entire list of scary movies because they wanted to watch them to. I looked over the list and saw every good scary movie I would actually watch on there. The kids are too old to need us for everything, so we actually have free time, but our kids also don't want us to do anything that may be considered fun without them. It's at this point I'm realizing, this is how parents become boring.