The Moms Code: Halloween Mayhem

Written by Eileen Wacker

Halloween is a scary time for year for me, not because I’m afraid of ghosts, but rather because Halloween always ends up putting this mom in the eye of the storm.

Halloween is a controversial holiday in our house. I have four teenagers; no, that is not a ghost story - I actually do. Sometimes the kids can’t wait to decide which costume, friends to go with, and candy routes to pursue. The excitement level and anticipation are huge. But other times (maybe even in the same week), another child declares Halloween to be ‘stupid and babyish’. Yesterday, one of mine yelled, “I’m done with Halloween and I’m never dressing up again!” This happened with no obvious provocation that I observed.

Learn more about The Moms Code and the tenets of being a happy Mom.

This, I have to say does not happen with birthdays, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Fourth of July, long weekends with Monday holidays that I don’t know the name of anymore. It is really specific to Ghouls Day.

As a mom, I just try to roll with the household dynamics. Then, today the storm hit. My third child is anxious and has the decision – “do I trick or treat or keep praying I get invited to that party I’m not invited to?” I don’t know how to answer that.

Halloween falls within many important processes. My oldest is doing college apps. She resembles a fire-breathing, knife-wielding dragon if I’m being honest and that’s when she’s sleeping. Halloween is the night before the first round of apps are due. Today, that is a crisis. “Who picked Halloween to be on such a stupid date?” she demands to know. I start to say, “Well, I think Halloween staked a claim to that date…” I’m cut off with a laser glare. I ask, “Get it? Halloween staked?” She rolls her eyes and walks out.

My son started strength and conditioning for basketball. The rules do not allow the coach to hold tryouts until the end of November, so they hold faux team practices, also known as strength and conditioning. Finally, my middle school daughter is in the middle of tennis team tryouts. Of course, she goes down in PE ‘dodgeball’ and I get the call. Please get her an Xray to ensure her arm is not broken.

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My daughter, who swore off ever wearing a costume again, calls me and says, “Okay, I changed my mind. My friends and I are going as social butterflies. I’m twitter. I need blue wings and a blue tutu, and, you can only find them at Walmart.”

I say, “Walmart, on a Friday before a holiday?  No way! And I’ve been at the hospital with your sister for three hours to hear she does not, in fact, have a broken arm!”

Of course an hour later, I’m buying Halloween costumes in Walmart and they have Christmas decorations already.

I say to a random floor associate. “We moms are tired and overworked. We don’t need the holidays all blending together!” The associate just stares at me. I mutter to a fake Santa, “Holidays, just stay in your own lane!”

Then, I buy more candy than we could ever consume, find the blue tutu and wings and fight an ocean of people to pay. The good news is I’ve survived another Halloween and the night of, when the kids dress up exactly as they like and have a great time, I sigh and think, “Halloween is such a fun holiday.”

Halloween Celebration: Alla Greens and Pirate Costumes

Written by Kenna McHugh

“'Tis now the very witching time of night,

When churchyards yawn and hell itself breathes out

Contagion to this world.” - William Shakespeare

Six years ago, my daughter, who just turned eleven, and my son were discussing Halloween.  He was excited, almost ecstatic about his costume and trick or treating. My daughter, a former Bumble Bee, Princess and Katniss, said she was not sure she wanted to go trick or treating with the family. I was worried about how our Halloween evening would turn out.

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I was in the school pickup line, when my son bounded over to my SUV wearing only a t-shirt, underwear, and pirate socks. Shaken a bit and looking around for his teacher, I asked, “Where is the rest of your costume?”

“Now, mom…I didn’t mean to scare you.”

I couldn’t pull over, park, and question his teacher because cars in the pickup line are not supposed to stop, ever. So I kept going. I looked for his teacher or some adult supervisor, but did not see any person ‘in charge’. I asked him, “What did the teacher say when you took off your costume?”

“Oh mom, Ronnie had bad at our Halloween party. All these kids were eating cupcakes, and drinking soda, and he couldn’t. Because of his alla,..all greens.”

“Allergies?”

In my peripheral, I could see his head nod. Then his face grimaced. “Mom. I felt bad for him. So, I gave him my pirate hook. He was happy. Then, I gave him my eye patch, my hat, and my shirt. He kept smiling and thanking me, mom.”

Trying to keep my eyes the road and my voice calm, I asked another question “What did the teacher do?”

“She smiled and said that was very sweet.”

“And, the pants?”

He explained, “Ronnie has alla greens, mom. He can’t eat lots of different fun stuff, even sprinkles,” his brows pulled together. “He liked my butt pocket and asked if he could have it. I said yes.”

“Allergies. It’s nice to help your friend. Allergies are tough on kids. I understand. But, your pants?”

“All of us are just characters. Characters.” He said as if this explained everything.

“So, your class had a fun Halloween party?”  I asked.

Learn more about The Moms Code and the tenets of being a happy Mom.

He nodded and smiled. Really proud of himself. I pulled the SUV into the driveway, and we got out as my eleven-year-old daughter came up. She looked at her brother, “So, dude, where’s your pirate costume?”

He answered her, “Ronnie’s wearing it. He has alla greens.”

She said, “That’s tough on Halloween. My friend, Sally, has allergies, too. Nice dude.”

He smiled like a big man. She asked, “What are you going to wear for trick or treating?” 

He looked worried.

She said, “No worries, gotcha back. Come on, I have an idea.”

I chuckled to myself, “My kids are growing up, and Halloween will be fine tonight.” I had nothing to worry about, and I just let my kids be who they are, magnificent.

Watch This Hilarious Jimmy Kimmel YouTube Challenge: “I Told My Kids I Ate All Their Halloween Candy”

A few years ago, Jimmy Kimmel challenged parents to take the trick part of “trick or treating” literally to trick their kids in the meanest (and most hilarious) way possible. He had parents tell their children that after all their hard work walking from house to house collecting candy on Halloween night, the parents had done the unthinkable and eaten every single hard-earned piece. 

Kimmel then requested that the parents film their kids reaction and send the results to him to put together into one hysterical clip. Reactions range from despair to temper tantrums, but each as cute and funny as the one before (some of them even make you feel guilty for laughing!). The prank was so successful and popular that Kimmel has continued to challenge viewers to participate in this post-Halloween trick each year since. 

Click below to watch last year’s YouTube challenge and hopefully we can expect another clip from Kimmel in the next few weeks after this year’s night of Trick or Treating (at the expense of our poor little candy collectors)

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