Halloween in my lifetime was always a time for mischief. Nothing has changed. We must have some fun as adults.
Except, I turn it back on the kids. Halloween is a simple annual transaction conducted between 3-6 pm on on the East Coast. Kids ring the bell, you open the door, they yell Trick-or-Treat, you hand out pre-wrapped candy and wait for the bell to ring again. Halloween mostly dies between puberty and age 30 since those are the ages obsessed with "being cool" and declaring their own "independence." It fires up after that again when one regains a sense of humor.
So. I always saw greater opportunity to make Halloween less routine. Here is how it came down today with about 50 - 60 kids and parents in this neighborhood. We are fortunate to be high and dry. Many in our area were not and lost a lot. So the mood in this neighborhood was a celebration that the power was back on as opposed to losing, literally everything. OK, go with the flow.
SCENARIO:
Doorbell rings. I look out to make sure it is not FEDEX delivering.
1. I then have donned my HEADSMANS HOOD (retained from grammar school) and then I bang on the door loudly three times from the inside. This gets the kids attention on the outside.
2. I grab my toy plastic beheading axe that is 4 feet long, and open the door VERY SLOWLY.
3. I stick the axe out first and slowly so it is obvious, without showing myself, this is not going to be a routine transaction.
4. I present my hooded self and quickly try to quickly gauge the age of the "prospects." Fortunately, parents are present for this bit of Shakespearian theater most of the time now. If they are age 5 or above, they seem to enjoy the "full treatment" as do the parents. See the 4A escape hatch at the end for the younger kids.
5. I open the door and ask in a deep voice wizard of OZ voice "what do you want!"
6. The kids inevitably respond CANDY!
7. I respond, "I bet you do! But you must pass the test! WHAT IS THE PASSWORD?"
8. They always look at each other and most come up with PLEASE or Trick or Treat. I accept any response.
9. They get the candy and we lighten it up joking with the parents.
4A ESCAPE HATCH. If the kids look fearful, I bag the routine, take off the hood quickly and get into silly mode to give them candy. This only happened with one kid this year that looked about 3.
A LOT of kids were out this year. I think a lot wanting some relief from the all too serious events of Hurricane Sandy. It was fun to participate. Some parents even thanked me for making it fun. Let me know what you are doing to make it fun. I don't want to do the same thing next year.
OBSERVATIONS:
- More parents with kids this year - good trend.
- Fewer parents with video cameras.
- ADD response to the doorbell - if you are not on the door by 30 seconds, they are on to the next house. Also many kids not always paying attention when the door is opened. They are looking elsewhere, sometimes 180 degrees. Hmmm. I guess they won't become engineers.
- No strategy for covering the neighborhood. Strange kids going next door skipped this house. Never tried for candy. When I was a kid, we had a simple pattern - hit every house.
- Better costumes and more sophisticated, far less home-made.
- Many more kids this year.
- No Egging. (Good)
- Only one bell ring after 6pm (better).
JA
