the absolutely most precious little witch just came here

Enjoying Halloween? or enduring? I just had a visit from an absolutely adorable, about two year old girl in black sparkly witch get-up. with her teeny voice and shy way of asking for candy. my gosh, I'm not really mushy this way but she was so cute!!!
OTOH, my mom (88) loves the little cuties too but wasn't sure she is up to the whole evening of treat giving. She was considering 'leaving her light off' so to speak, has become the way to tell kids not to come, which I don't remember from my childhood.
Well, DG is as good as a book to do between treaters. Anybody else?

This message was edited Oct 31, 2007 7:42 PM

I'm barely enduring it. Having to sit here with the lights out, dogs are barking at the screaming little brats outside, and I am getting madder by the second that society forces this---what?--does anybody even know why we have halloween? If the kids need candy that badly, let the parents buy it and leave the rest of us alone.

(can you tell I'm having a bad night?)

This message was edited Oct 31, 2007 7:43 PM

I certainly understand how grating this must be then. Maybe I should not have opened up this topic, I am afraid it could get 'hot.'

caught me at a bad moment---really, I'm turning into an awful scroogy type person as I am getting older---by the time I'm 60 I'll be hanging out on the porch chasing people off with a pitchfork---LOL

right in the spirit of it then! leave the dogs home and go lurk about...no wait, better not....

hehehehe

When I did participate, i got a kick out of the Moms I scared that ran away and left their kids on my porch!!!

you should move to my street. I've only had about a dozen kids all night. This is low even for here.

I'm in a small villiage, they bring them in from all around, the last year I counted we had 145 kids -----

Holy Halloween Batman!! no wonder you're overwhelmed. That is just a bit much!!!!!!!!!

I know-----and do you know how much it costs for that much candy?? I just can't do it anymore!!! And if you try to give them just one piece, you get the nastiest looks-----and they come in herds---big herds---

Our trick-or-treat night was last Sat. I love to see the kids. I think the cutest one I saw this year was a little 7-8 yr old girl dressed up like a kitty cat. Her little nose was painted black and she had painted on whiskers. I told her she looked adorable and she got the biggest smile on her face.

Then there's the costumes I don't like....the icky ones with blood and yuck. But, I guess that's part of Halloween.

The first trick-or-treater that came here was a little girl dressed as a gypsy. She was so excited it was hilarious. She could hardly keep still. She told me she painted her fingernails herself, lol. Then she ran off the porch and told her Dad she got a 'Snickers' bar! Oh, to be young again and have a candy bar make you that happy!

We don't get a lot of kids here. We live at the top of the hill and this year we were the only ones on our street with our porch light on...many of the kids informed me of that, lol. We buy a few bags of candy and I end up giving it out by the handfuls to get rid of it all.

I like to sit on the porch to greet the kids as they come up. This year it was so cold and rainy that we got less kids than usual. Two neighborhood kids handed candy out with me for an hour or so (one of them with an "eyeball" hanging halfway down his face, YUCK!)...and when there was 30 minutes left I said enough was enough! It was too cold! I split the candy between the two kids and headed inside for a hot bath.

There were a few years that I didn't give out candy. I usually watched TV in the bedroom trying to keep the dogs quiet. Oh, don't they love to howl at the worst times? LOL!

Not many kids around where I live and it is too far to walk down my driveway. I put the lights on, and sometimes have one kid, once 8, but none last night.
DH was watching the candybars and pounced at 8pm.

Well it's all over, disappointed, only had about 80..usually about 140..so still have 6 cases of coca cola, chocolate bars and suckers...so guess who will be putting on a few extra lbs. - not that I need them..lol...

Can't believe how many on our street were not shelling out...young ones were having a bit of a problems coming to the door, with an 8' ghost looking as though she was flying through the air, graveyard, scarry music and fog, but they were brave..got extra's for their efforts..

This weekend it will be off with Halloween decorations and Christmas festivities and decorating takes place...give one a sense of youth..

Don't even get me started on Christmas!!

Was in Walmart this am and they had carols on the sound system already---

threegardeners, you just crack me up!!! You remind me of my friend here in town. I got her a grinch t-shirt a couple of years ago. LOL!! She never wants to put up her Christmas tree, says it's too much trouble. One year another friend and I went and put her tree up for her. She wouldn't get her decorations out, too much trouble. Wouldn't tell us where they were. So, we took down all her beany babies and decorated the tree with them. It was the cutest tree you'd ever seen! I had a big beany baby that was an octopus and we ended up using that for the star on top, and it looked perfect with it's 'legs' hanging down. Our "grinch" friend was never so happy, lol! Of course, we also took the tree down and put her beany babies back for her...you make a mess, you clean it up!

The funny thing is that this friend is so not into the holidays, then she shows up with gifts for everyone. I'm sure it's just all the extra effort and time consuming things about the holidays that wear her out. She has a routine and likes to stick to it.

Christmas is my favorite holiday. I think it's the one time a year when everyone gets to be a kid. However, I did work at a retail store one Christmas when I was first married. I started there right around Thanksgiving and by the 2nd week of Dec. I couldn't stand to hear one more Christmas carol! It drove me insane, and I think that's still my problem today.

That's what I need---a grinch t-shirt!!

I used to like Christmas, when I was younger, we were raised that it was about family, having everybody together---now it's all greed, kids making lists, my friend spends over 500 dollars per kid at Christmas---that's not what it's about.

Our first year together, Hubby wanted to have his daughter over, I said no problem----then she e-mailed him this list of what she wanted----I said no way, we can't afford all that--he said we had to cause it's Christmas---I said, if thats the way she feels, she can stay home!! So she did.

When we were kids, we appreciated what, if anything we got---usually a new pair of pajamas, cause that's what we needed. It's gotten all distorted these days and I refuse to be a part of it.

Lee Anne(aka grinch)

I agree. I think it is more fun to get handmade gifts, or set a low limit and see what creative things people can do with a small amount of cash.
One of the best presents I ever received was a photo album with my favorite comic pasted in, every days worth for a year. Took little money, but a lot of thought.
I am quite a scrooge too.

We don't have trick or treaters come to our house either. The houses are too far apart for them to want to walk that far. However, one of the ladies I work with had over 600 come to her house last night! OMG! She must be broke!

That's how it's supposed to be cpartschick!!! We were allowed one small thing, something we needed. My favourite was a huge cast iron frying pan. Mom and Dad gave it to me when I was 24----still have it and use it daily now and I'm 43. Dad's gone now, and Mom feels the same way I do----all through the year we give each other little things, that we need, instead of just one day to get things we really don't need.

This message was edited Nov 1, 2007 2:47 PM

Yes, I don't want to be "forced" to give someone a present. I make things and give things all the time. Or I see something I know so and so would love, but to "have" to buy someone something takes the joy and meaning out of it.
I could just hoard the stuff away until Dec, but some things are used or needed right away.
Bah Humbug.

I remember living in town and getting 100 kids in for halloween. I loved it.

More comment on Wal Mart. I heard on the news that they are starting Christmas THIS WEEK with drastic mark-downs! They don't want everyone to wait until just before the holiday. They want everyone to shop This Week.

Our walmart is open every night til midnight---all year---is this normal for a walmart?

The supercenters are open 24/7, I know. But this early sale is the first time they've done that.

Some of our Walmarts are not open 24/7 and some are. It's not just the SuperWalmarts either.

Someone earlier had a question about how Halloween started. I'm a bit curious about a lot of things and have to know how things happen and what are the reasons behind stuff. So I found this site to explain it.

http://woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/Halloween/history.htm

Hope it's interesting to you.

Kwanjin

Aw, Betty, if I were a kid again I would stop at your house first!

Since we moved to the country, we don't get any trick-or-treaters,
but I sure miss them!

We had a very large porch where many trick-or-treaters could line
up, so cute to see all the kids, and to know which ones were feeling
uneasy. We were one of the calm houses where a kid didn't have to
be scared. Nice people answered the door and didn't scare you. LOL.

And we gave GOOD stuff, too!

I agree 110% with the greed about Christmas and having to give gifts. I don't know what happened either. I remember the excitement when I was a kid, making a list for Santa, leaving cookies and milk for him, then going to bed and not being able to sleep. Every year I got the same gifts...construction paper & markers, socks & undies, a sled and maybe a few other toys. Nothing big, outrageous or expensive. Our stockings had homemade cookies, apples and oranges. We were lucky if we got one thing that was on our list. It boggles my mind that kids these days get everything that's on their lists. Every year I say to my DH that our nieces and nephews got everything on their lists, plus some. Don't get me wrong, I love to give to the kids...and adults too, for that matter...but, it's like you're saying, "Christmas" may as well be changed to "MEmas".

On the other hand, a few years ago my DB was with a girl who didn't have much. She had a 5 yr old little girl. The whole family was here for Christmas. The family ended up waking DB, SIL and my niece on Christmas morning. I don't think I've ever seen a kid so excited, ever. I thought she was going to fall down the steps, then when she saw the gifts under the tree I thought she was going to pee her pants. Her Mom was trying to get her dressed because the whole family was in the living room, but the most clothes she got on her was a t-shirt and undies! (Should of just left the pj's on!) The kid just didn't care, Santa had come! Finally she unwrapped a pair of blue jeans and put them on, lol! She got new snow boots, a doll, her blue jeans and a couple other things, but you'd have thought someone gave her the world. She was happy for days. I don't know if that sweet child had seen Christmases where Santa didn't come or what, but it left me and everyone else wondering. It made me want to go out and buy all of Wal-Mart for her.

nice Xmas story.
Its really hard to control Xmas for many of us who are lucky with grandparents etc who all want to do something nice for the kids, and as parents we want the biggest present to be from us.

I don't have the pleasure of having grandchildren. The only and only we had was adopted by a nice family. Every year, DH and DD and I pick an Angel from an Angel Tree. That way we can give and feel we're doing something. And no $200.00 IPODs, either. They get needed stuff...like clothes and shoes and such.The child also puts the one thing they've always wanted, usually something small, like a game or doll. I think that is what Christmas is for, not these punk kids (and some adults) who think it should be all about THEM THEM THEM!!! Get a life people! It's all about someone in need.

We do the angel tree thing too and it's so much fun. The church we used to attend always had a "Christmas family"....a family in the community that was in need and the whole church would donate to get gifts and a traditional Christmas dinner for the family. We were a very small church, maybe 30 members at most. The whole church would shop together for the family sometimes. We'd have a "wrapping party" at someone's home and wrap all the gifts up. Then someone would volunteer or be chosen to deliver the gifts. No one but the Pastors and the folks who delivered knew who the family was. One year DH and I and another young man were chosen to deliver the gifts. It was such an experience!

Our friend, Cain, showed up at our house early and we weren't ready to go. We left him guarding the ham that was in the living room so our dog wouldn't eat it while DH and I went upstairs to get ready. We came down from getting ready and Cain was asleep on top of our dog on the floor! LOL! Good thing the dog didn't eat the ham, it was Christmas Eve, 8:00 at night! Where would we have gotten another ham?

There was a Mom and 3 kids in the family that year I think. We had so many gifts we couldn't figure out how we were going to get them all into our car and then up to the family's house. Finally, we decided to load them into my laundry baskets, figuring we'd unload at the family's house. Yep, that would work.

We went to the local housing development, found the right apartment...then DH and Cain started playing bashful. They didn't want to knock on the door, they didn't know what to say. Sheesh. They made me do it. I didn't know what to say either. "Hi, I'm a stranger. Merry Christmas. Do you want a ham? No, I didn't poison it. I'm from a church you never heard of before." Oh, boy....knock, knock, knock.

There's no porch light on, everything is dark on the porch, but lights are on inside. A little boy about 10 yrs old opens the door, he's in his pj's. He's looking at us funny because we're holding laundry baskets on his front porch on Christmas Eve. I ask if his Mom is home. Then he realizes that there are gifts in the baskets and he starts jumping up and down. He says that yeah, his mom is home, but he won't quit jumping or go get his mom. He just stands there and jumps. Then he asks if the gifts are for his family....then he starts yelling, "Hey, Mom, some lady is at the door with a bunch of presents, come here!" Mom responds, "What? What are you talking about, quit yelling."

Mom shows up in her pj's too. She looks at us, trying to figure out who we are and what we are doing there. I say, "Merry Christmas Joan! We're from blah blah church...." Mom's hands cover her mouth that is gaping open at this point. She starts crying. The kid opens the door for us, still jumping up and down. Mom grabs me and hugs me, asking how we knew she needed stuff. I told her that I honestly didn't know, but that God had provided.

DH and Cain are standing behind me, just grinning, not saying a word. Doofuses. Mom hugs them too. I take the ham from Cain and give it the boy and ask him to put it in the fridge for his mom. He takes it and makes a big deal about carrying it, acting like it's so heavy he can barely move it. Mom starts poking through the gifts, the boy wants to open them NOW. There's not much under their tree. I think Cain and DH muttered a whole 3 words each the entire time we were there.

The Mom's reaction was one of "Why did you pick us, how did you know? You didn't have to." The kid was the same way.


That experience made our Christmas that year. Cain, DH and I stood in the parking lot and hugged afterwards....don't tell anyone, they are tuff guys. I cried, but their sniffles were because it was so cold out. I can't even describe the feelings while we were at the family's apartment. Overwhelming love and pure joy, not because we brought gifts, but because someone cared about this woman's kids and provided during a time when she just wasn't able to for some reason. It certainly was one of the best days of my life.

I just wanted to share this with all of you because when you do the angel tree thing...well, it's really great, and it's a lot of fun....but you don't get to see the reaction or the smiles. I know I've wondered who gets the gifts, who decides who needs the gifts, all that stuff. After getting to deliver the gifts that Christmas Eve I don't care anymore! I wish I could do that every Christmas...nothing compares...that's what's on my list to Santa!

Well, that and maybe a couple of the really big laundry baskets! They got left behind at the apartment. I wonder what that lady thought of us giving her laundry baskets for Christmas? Used laundry baskets at that!

When I was a kid, there was a lady next door, always got stuff from her church members---always---had big yard sales the next week, turned me off of the donating thing altogether.

OMgosh! I can't even imagine! I think I would have had to make an anonymous phone call to the church in that situation. Unless that's why they brought the stuff to her in the first place? Our church had a HUGE yard sale one time. I thought I was the only one who kept all that junk until everyone else started pulling it out. We had enough to fill up a garage, plus some. It was a lot of fun. That was a few years ago and I'm thinking it's about time to have another one because my junk is starting to pile up again. DH keeps telling me we're out of room in the attic and basement every time I start looking at new Christmas decorations. But, he just doesn't know how to use space properly, lol. If there's a path to walk through, then there's room for more decorations!! Kinda like in the garden, if you can see dirt or mulch, there's room for another plant! He doesn't get that either.

A couple of years ago my DB came home for Christmas, he hadn't been home for years and I wanted to make it special for him. I went all out and decorated the front porch like I hadn't done in many years. I put up the garland and lights, sprayed the fake snow stuff all over the place, put the decorations on the lawn, all that jazz. I even took out my old ornaments that I used to use on our tree when we first got married and hung them all over the garland on the porch. It was so pretty and Christmas-y. But it got really windy that Christmas and most of my ornaments blew down and smashed. Little bits of red, green and gold all over the snow and front porch. I was constantly out there sweeping so the dogs wouldn't get glass in their paws. That spring and summer I kept finding the little doo-dads that top the ornaments that the hangers hook to all over in my flowers out front. Thankfully no one got cut, no doggies were harmed and I think DH was actually happy to get rid of some of my Christmas "junk". But, never again will I do that. I guess it was one of those, "What was I thinking?" moments....but it was pretty while it lasted, LOL!


Sometime between last night and this morning the kids took the last of my pumpkins and gourds. Unfortunately they also took all my 'maters, about 30 of them, that were sitting on the porch ripening. The pumpkins were all in my window boxes. But, why did they take my 'maters??? I wanted those! I don't give a darn about the pumpkins anymore. Oh, well, now it's time to start bugging DH about getting out the Christmas stuff. Wonder how long it'll be before he drags it all down for me?

Threegardners, I would not have been able to keep my mouth shut! Would have told her exactly what I though of her. I get into LOTS of trouble with DH that way, but I don't care. Rude is rude!

DD and I, years ago, were the recipiants of a Secret Santa. I know what that lady was feeling because I felt it again when I read your story. Our doorbell rang and when I got there, we found three huge boxes of oh-so-needed items. I cried for an hour. So now I return the favor every year.

When my parents first separated (bad, bad divorce) my Mom had 5 kids and was on her own. That first Christmas was pretty slim pickin's. I was only about 2 yrs old, but I can still remember the folks from the church coming and bringing us gifts. I think the folks planned that us kids would be in bed, it was Christmas Eve....and just like my other story, all of us were running around in our pj's. They showed up with the gifts and Mom let us open them all while the folks were still there instead of waiting till morning. We opened the gifts from Santa in the morning. Thinking back on it, it was nice that Mom let them see us open that stuff and start playing with it all. I don't remember for certain what I got, but I remember my DB got an airplane that all of us kids loved and started "flying" through the house together. I have very few memories of even living in the place that we did then because I was so young, but I remember those folks coming with the gifts.

I also remember my oldest DB always pushing my face into my spaghetti when we lived there, but that's a whole other story!