Halloween is one week away, and I haven’t done a single thing to prepare for it.
Because all I have to do to prepare is buy candy. I’m down to one child still trick-or-treating, and this is his last year. While a small part of me misses the excitement of Halloween with small children, most of me is completely at peace with putting that phase of parenthood behind me.
I wrote this list about Halloween with older kids last year, but it bears repeating. Parents of young children may love Halloween with their little goblins, but it’s exhausting. Fear not; it gets easier, and Halloween will become a relaxing albeit weight-gaining experience.
Halloween with older kids means…
1. No more elementary school Halloween parade. No more searching for a parking spot and jockeying for position to get a blurry shot of my kid as he whizzes by me. No more stupid Halloween party menu that includes baby carrots and grapes. Because everyone knows that kids would rather gnaw on a miniature vegetable than munch on Skittles.
3. No more walking the kids up to the door of every house. Now I stand at the bottom of the driveway with the second bag of candy (yes, my kids bring two bags for their loot), sneaking mini Snickers and Hershey bars.
4. No more rushing out of the house as the sun sets so the kiddos can be home for an early bedtime. Now we order a pizza (it’s a sin to cook on Halloween), the kids get dressed, and head out when it’s good and dark.
5. No more whining and crying over the candy received. Now the kids settle down with their bowls like they are at an international trade summit. Two bite-sized Snickers for your larger bag of Sour Patch kids? Deal. Candy negotiation is a fine art, and they have perfected it.
I did love Halloween with little ones. I still love when little Supermans and princesses ring our doorbell and say “Trick or Treat” in their little kid voices. But I paid my dues, and now I’m able to sit back and relax on October 31st.
There is one negative to Halloween with older children. I’m down to only one stash to steal from, and James has a freaky missing candy radar.
Speaking of candy, which kind do you (or would you) steal from a kid’s trick-or-treat bag? I’m sure I’m not the only parent who does that. Right?
My youngest is only 4, so we’ve got quite a few years ahead of us, but I don’t mind. We actually saw a lot of teens this year. They were dressed up in costume and having a good time!
Being on a Friday night made it easy for teens to go out this year – my younger teen went with a bunch of his buddies and had a great time.
as a new parent, halloween brings on a whole new meaning! my goodness! it’s actually very stressful because people ask, “what are you dressing your kid up as?” it’s like you’re expected to be on your halloween game! i wish all i had to do was buy chocolate and hand it out!
That’s where I am at this point, but you have years of costume decision making ahead of you! On the bright side, you also have years of seeing your little boy have a blast dressing up in a costume. Once Franco has an opinion, it will actually be easier.
I’m with you – down to one trick or treater and not upset about it. (Frankly, I can’t wait until the whole Santa business goes away…) Am I a bad mom? Thanks for sharing and letting me know I’m not the only woman with a practical mindset about the holidays!
You’re not a bad mom! We’re Jewish so I never had to deal with the Santa issue. Makes December much easier!
You make some good points! But we are just starting with the routine in our house 🙂
Enjoy it, Tarana – the years go by so quickly! (And I hope you get your favorite candy)
I’m enjoying the second go-round as I watch my little grand-toddlers celebrate Halloween as Lightning McQueen and To-Mater. Like most aspects of being a grandparent, I get all the joy without any of the hassle! Win-win!!
Absolutely a win-win! And grandmothers can still steal candy, right?
This list makes me look forward to 10 years from now! I have fun with the whole costume thing when they’re little enough that it’s not a struggle, but I could go without walking the kids around. I could skip right over Halloween and go right for Thanksgiving and Christmas!
My husband and I used to take turns walking around with the kids. I did love Halloween when they were little, but after over a decade I’m ready to be done.
Whatever Christopher gets from school activities I used to take the chocolate. Like for pre-school whomever bought the chocolate and put it in the goodies bags must have said, “these are for the moms”. I would also swipe the multi flavor tootsie rolls. I love those things. I never see them by themselves. There always in a big bag of other junk.
Gwen always preferred the non-chocolate treats, which was perfect for me. Keep your Skittles and Sour Patch kids and hand over the chocolate.
I haven’t done a darn thing either – this year!! Only because I’m lazy and really don’t care enough to invest in a costume with my kiddos! lol They are wearing hand me downs (I think- who knows?) but we will still do trick or treating- because, FREE CANDY!!
I have already eaten two bags of our candy, so there’s that.
Butterfingers are my crack. Snickers a close second.
But I’m not too picky. Baby Ruth bars battle up to the top some nights. Take all the stupid stuff- I just want the CANDY BARS!!!
I’m with you, Chris – it has to be chocolate or it’s not worth the calories. You can have my Butterfingers if you give me your Rolos – deal?
Dana this is funny. It sounds like a lot of blood, sweat and tears can go into celebrating Halloween. You know, from what I remember, because my family celebrated it with us for a few years and then we no longer did it, I think it’s wasn’t all that bad, but perhaps I’m just seeing it from my point of view and not the parental one haha!
I learned to relax about it over the years – so much energy for a few hours is just exhausting.
This might be the last year she’s still young enough that I can get away with stealing her candy. Hope she gets lots of Butterfingers and Reese’s Peanut butter cups!
You can steal longer than that, Liz – you just have to get sneakier. Dig from the bottom and hide the wrappers underneath the other trash. It’s an art I’ve perfected.
OMG wait a second! Halloween is in a WEEK?!?!?!?!?!??!! WOW I completely forgot! I am SO NOT a fan of this holiday though, ugh! I will be hiding in my house – lol!
Just make sure you turn off the porch light – then kids know not to bother knocking. And you can eat all the candy yourself 🙂
This is nice! You have paid your dues, enjoyed the time with children, and are happy to move on. I like it! I love Halloween, will always love it. Do I steal the candy? Heck yea, peanut m&ms and kit kats – big weaknesses.
Those are two of my favorites too. But the mini Hershey bars are my #1 choice!
I cannot wait for this!!!! I am over the halloween thing and since they started picking their own costumes, it really is no fun for me. Big A is a ninja for the third year in a row. Ninja’s are such a big yawn for me. And it makes for boring pictures. Thank you for showing me the light at the end of the tunnel.
The pictures are more boring as they get older, aren’t they? They’ll be teenagers before you know it, Tara. I would tell you to just enjoy eating their candy, but you are a much healthier eater than I am. 🙂
I am not a parent but my sister is getting older and I have to say although I do miss her adorable princess costumes from when she was little, her older years (13) is much less stressful. She didnt know what her costume was gonna be until the day of and she used basically pjs and a winter hat to form a zebra and it was adorable and warm. Plus she is all about sharing candy now because she understands she will never eat it before she gets another surplus of candy at christmas. What do I steal you ask? Peanut Butter Cups! My fav!
Ooh, I agree. Peanut butter cups are awesome. But my son keeps a close tab on those, so they are hard to steal. 🙁
Whew – I don’t have this problem. Our tradition is to leave the neighborhood and go out to eat. I did make treat bags for Christopher’s class. I looked long and hard and this big back of candy that had Almond Joy’s in it – saying that I could keep all of those and pack up the rest. But the bag had 150 of this and that and really didn’t want 25 or more of Almond Joy’s because I promise you they would already be gone. That’s a candy bar I never buy. I like the little ones, I don’t want a whole candy bar. As for keeping count, I buy those 30 bags of assorted chips and it’s always, “Mom! Who ate all the Doritos?”
Hmmm – a Dorito thief, huh? I do like Almond Joys, but I agree – just a little one satisfies me.
You are totally not the only mom to steal candy. I’m lucky in that my kid actually gets happy by feeding it to me (or not as even my fat pants are tight). We ran out of candy this year…so we were even raiding my son’s loot to replenish the giving bowl! Of course, we still dressed up…but I look forward to the days you describe, here. Also I say NOW that for today and every day – all sour patch things are mine.
You can have the sour patch kids, Kristi – not my thing. You may have to fight my kids for them though.
I love this as much the second time around! And Tucker’s got a store-bought ugly Batman costume that he puts on every single day after school. It closes in the back and is one-piece so every time he has to pee, I have to help him take it off. Yay.
Ha – sounds lovely. My kids never went through that costume every day phase, but I know lots of kids who have. Gwen puts on her pajamas every day after school, but they aren’t one piece and she doesn’t need helping getting them off to pee. Whew.
Chocolatey stuff wins hands down over candy for me. I will clean out your Milky Ways, Three Musketeers, and Butterfingers. You’ve been warned!
Ha – you can have my Butterfingers, Alison, but you may have to fight me for the Milky Ways!
Nodding my head the whole list through. I agree about it being harder to take candy though….I got in trouble already!
Me too, Leah. I just have to be sneakier and bury my wrappers in the trashcan 🙂
I’ve been a Milky Way “addict” since I was a kid and now it’s even worse with the Caramel Milky Way. I actually never have chocolate in the house (it’s just me and my Golden Retriever, Phoenix) but if folks bring leftovers into work (as they did today). It was a mob scene. Meaning and mob the huge bag…dumped everything out on the counter and swiped all of the chocolate bars then put the remaining candy back in the back. Just to be polite ya know 😉
I’d swipe all the chocolate bars too, Mike – it’s the only candy worth eating for me!
That sounds just lovely! My girls are 6, 8, & 11. My oldest dressed up this year, but didn’t trick or treat. I;m not a huge fan of Halloween and I will be more than happy for forego the madness in a few years!
It is pretty nice – my son went out on his own this year, armed with a phone and two responsible friends. I waited at home for all of his candy. Perfect.
Now that my kids are all grown up and one with a kid of his own, I can relax and enjoy giving out candy on Halloween. I enjoy sitting on the porch watching all the young parents and children showing off their costumes. Unfortunately, I don’t have the pleasure of sifting through their candy to pick out my favorites. It does help my waistline, though.
Mine is already expanding and it’s only November 2nd!
I’ve already stolen all the 100 Grand bars from the kids. I still have little ones so they don’t even notice. I did make my kids pick a few pieces of candy to donate to my kid’s classroom since they had so much. I added all the crappy candy to the bag that my kids don’t eat.
I stole one of those bars today too. My son must count his candy, because he already called me on stealing. Enjoy it while you can!
There is a lot I complain about with the twins but Halloween is not one of them! They have no school parade yet (that sounds awful!), our neighborhood is SO much fun to walk on Halloween…and by fun I mean everyone is drinking and there’s rolling bars everywhere!! Perhaps I should reevaluate where I live? Hmmmm….anyway, we have a little pre-party at my house and my dad and stepmom come and my best friend with her kids and we actually have a GREAT time. I’m glad to know it will only get better! YAY!!!!
Your Halloween sounds awesome, Allie. We used to go out with other families, but as the kids got older they wanted to go out with the friends they chose. I did enjoy it when they were younger, but I’m not sad to be at a different phase of my life right now. Hope you had a great Halloween!
at work, we had a halloween party for everyone’s kids. the kids would go around from cube to cube and go trick-or-treating. the problem is i ate half the stash of chocolate i brought (twix, kit-kat, reese’s) by the time the kids rolled around. blame the pregnant lady!
At least you have an excuse – I’m just can’t-control-her-urge-for-chocolate lady.
I hardly remember the Halloweens at the age my children are now. I remember the ones when I was older. I have thrown out most of the Halloween candy already (our town did trick or treat last weekend). The baby obviously never noticed and my son won’t notice til everything’s gone.
You are lucky, Jean! Mine will hang around for a long time, and I will eat most of it.
Only one of mine went out and he came back after a half hour. I think trick or treating is losing it’s allure. Then he informed me he doesn’t really like candy that much anymore, which is good for me, but bad for me at the same time. Is my free candy time coming to an end?!
I hope not, Michelle! My son came home with 14 pounds of candy. Ugh.
I’ll be doing little-kid Halloween duty tonight, but it shouldn’t be too bad. We’re just going to walk up and down our street and call it good. And so far we’ve never done anything but hand-me-down costumes, which is A-OK by me! (Confession: I am an Almond Joy thief.)
I love Almond Joys too – and my kids gladly give them to me. So then I’m free to sneak other types of candy.
I cannot wait until it is less work!! Oh my Gosh, I am SO OVER it and it is not even night yet! ;)-Ashley
Ha! Good luck, Ashley – it will be over soon!
Dana, you come by your “sneaking” honestly! My favorite candies on Halloween were Hershey bars, M&Ms, and Nestle Crunch!
Wait – did you sneak our candy? That’s ok; I snuck the Snackwell cookies you “hid” around the house. 🙂
#3 makes me really, really happy! I only like chocolate. And Starburst. Scarlet tends to love dum dum lollipops best. Which is great because I could care less about those!
I’m a chocolate girl too – I don’t waste my calories on candy if it’s not chocolate. Unfortunately for my waistline, I’ll have plenty to munch on!
There is not one item on this spooky list that I do not agree with 100%. So true. I’d write more but I’m off to eat candy from the trick-or-treat bowl. Something I can do nonsneakily now my kids are grown and flown. Happy, Happy Halloween!
Lol – thank you Kelly – you too!
Well, I see I have some things to look forward to! I think I could get the hang of sitting back while they trick er treat on their own! Nice. Oh, and I (allegedly) take Reese’s, Kit-Kat, and Junior Mints. 🙂
I allegedly take the Junior Mints too. I won’t tell if you don’t!
I can definitely see where you’d like Halloween with older kids a bit more. But the little kids really do make the evening bearable, I think. 😉
They are certainly the ones I love to see at my door. But I’ll give candy to anyone who comes by in an actual costume – as long as they say trick-or-treat.
Oooooh…I can’t WAIT until my daughters are old enough for me to RELAX on Halloween! They are currently 5 and 3 now and boy is it a hassle trying to find the right events to go to in lieu of door to door trick or treating, just because I don’t feel like doing it with them. We have to hurry when I get off and to the mall to be there before all the candy is gone, then RUSH home to give candy away at our house! It is definitely for the birds and I am OVER IT!
Ha – I feel your pain, Britton. Or I used too. Every year will get a little better. My husband and I alternate going out with the kids and staying home to answer the door – I prefer to stay home, especially if it’s cold. Good luck tonight!
I’m right there with you, Dana!!! That school parade and the room parties – UGH – don’t miss those at all!!!
I take the Laffy Taffy (except banana flavor)!!
I don’t like Laffy Taffy – you can have all of mine!
I was just thinking similar thoughts today since I only have one kid left who still goes trick-or-treating, but he’s not obsessing about a costume this year (thankfully). On the one hand, I miss the group of us all going out to trick-or-treat, but on the other hand, I can’t wait to sit home with my (extra) bag of kit kats and glass of wine tonight…now THAT’s what I call a relaxing Halloween. 🙂 Great post!
I’m with you, Emily – have fun relaxing tonight!
I love this one D. Every single line item was spot on…I will be skipping yoga this a.m. to shower and run around to be at the school to help with costumes. I do have to say that being the hot dog house…no pizza is involved anymore. When we were growing up we did mini pizzas every Halloween, sing it in your best voice “tradition…”. My kids said, “Are you kidding me? an english muffin with pizza sauce and cheese? That’s disgusting mom.” So sad…I loved those damn mini pizzas. So now I will be steaming up 60 hot dogs and making white chicken chili (have to have something for the poor parents forced to walk the kids around). Nevertheless, I love this day. If only it were cool to be playing Friday the 13th on a white sheet hanging from the garage…i think the children would really get into that.
Fav candy…Twix, Junior Mints. I only do big bars now so I don’t eat them pre-Halloween…but as soon the kids go to bed tonight, i might have to check out their stashes.
Happy Halloween!
Damn. I wish I lived on your street, Dana. I’m sure your white chicken chili is fabulous, but I’d be digging into the full sized candy bars. Happy Halloween to you too!
AGREE!! My younger daughter is also a 7th grader (older is a senior) and you speak the truth, sister! I’d add that carving pumpkins is a whole lot faster and less messy (and dangerous) as well…or they just don’t care and I carve up one, not six. Found you on the bloppy bloggers chain today…good to find another “older” mama (and by “older” I totally mean “less exhausted”)!!
Thank you for clarifying your use of “older,” Michelle! You are right about the pumpkins. And this year my daughter roasted the seeds by herself – bonus for me!
Malone is 4 so all of the certified teeth killers (aka laffy taffy and starburst like items ) go straight to my husband with no questions of Why. I’m also a big fan of the 1000 grand but virtually no chocolate is safe.
I’m with you – if it’s chocolate, it’s fair game.
I’m a Milky Way gal, myself. And now that they have the Caramel Milky Way bars – my favorite flavor in any form – I’m in heaven! I always debate whether I should buy candy for the trick or treaters that I like in case I have leftovers or should buy candy I hate in case I have leftovers. I usually go for the candy I love and, as in your house, the extras are gone by Thanksgiving. PS It IS a sin to cook on Halloween and pizza is always the right answer!
Thank you for confirming that for me, Mo. I feel a little less guilty about the pizza now 🙂 And Milky Ways are a fave of mine too – I love them when they are cold!
I totally steal Tootsie Rolls and Almond Joys. So no you aren’t the only parent. And I was supposed to have two princesses here, but my younger one is running a high fever and sleeping on me right now. So some part of Halloween will be in the pediatrician’s office today for sure 🙁
Oh, I’m sorry Janine – that stinks. Hope she feels better soon!
No 100 Grand bar is safe in my kids’ bags!
I agree, Melissa – but I bet the orange m&ms are safe 🙂
This is awesome! Especially since I spent last night cutting up fruit for treat day at daycare! My oldest is 4, and she’s a little smartie, so it might be hard to steal candy from her this year. But little sister? Let’s just say Mama will get paid for her time on the streets tonight! And, wow, that came out totally wrong! Time on the streets: walking up to every friggin’ door with the girls. Paid: all the good candy. Kit kats & Reeses PB cups, come to Mana!
You crack me up, Nicole. Can I quote you about getting paid for your time on the streets tonight? 🙂