Halloween Redux

Jake and his friends hit the ground running at 6PM exactly. Four kids, three dressed all in black, one (the youngest) dressed inexplicably in white. Armed with pillowcases, flashlights, strict instructions to stick together, and permission to trek to the nearest sub-subdivision, they set out in search of candy.

Quantity, not quality, was their goal.

Roughly two hours later, they returned lugging about 4 pounds of candy each, and with twice as many kids in their posse. They marched down the street toward our house chanting, "ce-re-al. ce-re-al". Our house is famous as the house that gives out full-size boxes of Kellogg's cereal, pop tarts and fruit snacks each year.

My husband's sales mantra: one family at a time.

The first year he did this I was mortified. I was left at home to actually give out the treats, and I was dreading the reaction of the kids. What I didn't realize was that Frosted Flakes are forbidden froot. A highly coveted treat, theirs in exchange for simply promising to "buy Kellogg's".

Young Ryan dressed as Spiderman, and he and I ventured out beyond our own street for the first time. He managed his lines nicely and wasn't too spooked by any of the decorations or kids in costume. He did freak out at the site of a real spider on a doorstep, despite being dressed as the web slinger himself. An hour or so of walking yielded a bucket full of sweets before his little legs were just too pooped to party on.

During a book promo radio interview earlier this week, the host asked me if halloween was a particularly tough time of year. As he was asking the question, my first thought was "hell no! we can eat whatever we want-as long as we bolus-and choose wisely-everything in moderation-blah blah blah". But then I realized that in the pre-Kellogg days, I *never* purchased Halloween candy until the last minute. I just didn't want it around! Milky Ways in delicious bite size nuggets would not last in my pantry more than a day or two. That's my reality, and stalling the purchase is my way of dealing.

And now, in my house: several pounds of enticing treats. Even after you weed out the gum and sour stuff.

I'm just thankful that only one house was giving out swedish fish.