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I’ve never been a really huge fan of Halloween. As a child, I liked the idea of getting candy, of course, but what kid doesn’t? Especially since we never really had candy, per se, in our house when I was growing up. Homemade baking was more likely to cover the sweets section of our family’s food groups than chocolate bars or lollipops, and even that wasn’t enough to make it a banner event. I think it stems back to when I was 5 and I asked to be a witch that year. My mother got me the hat and cape, and put makeup on my face. When I excitedly looked in the mirror to see the transformation, I burst into tears. She had given me big eyebrows and a mole. “But I wanted to be a pretty witch!” I sobbed. I’m not sure where I got the idea for a glamourous witch, but it definitely didn’t match the scary stuff I saw on my face.

I also remember my excitement for the afternoon school party dampened significantly the year that my mother sent me to school with a paper bag of home-popped buttered popcorn instead of a store-bought bag of Doritos. This might seem entirely appropriate and perhaps even preferable, from an adult’s point of view, but therein lies the gulf: there is the adult perspective and there is the child perspective, and rarely the ‘twain shall meet.

Halloween, candy aside, has never really seemed like a child’s holiday to me, what with the scary and gory symbols of death. I do try to psyche myself up for it since my husband loves it so much. I also have a bit of a problem with some of the safety issues associated with children running around the neighbourhood in the dark while disguised, approaching the houses of strangers and demanding candy from them, things that aren’t okay the other 364 days of the year. I realize this outs me as officially old and perhaps paranoid. My preference would be to host a party for friends and family, where I can more closely control the situation. I’d gladly buy as much candy as we can eat before it makes us sick, as long as I have my child safe and warm under our own roof.

Loraine's party spread. Look, vegetables! (photo courtesy of Loraine)

This year, we had a compromise: having some family and friends over in the afternoon, to wear costumes, eat some candy and chips and watch the Thomas the Tank Engine Halloween Adventures DVD. Then once it got dark, Jack and Stephen went out around our block to a few friendly houses to chat with our closest neighbours, show off his costume and get some candy. Jack seemed to enjoy it, as it was a bit of a thrill to be out so late, and he wasn’t too scared. His firefighter costume was apparently a hit, particularly with our older neighbours.

The funniest thing was that he’s still a bit young, at just over 2 years old, to really get the whole candy mania thing, so his favourite part about knocking on doors was getting to look inside other people’s front foyers for ceiling fans. He has long been what we call “fan-tastic fan of fans” and on Halloween he often seemed more interested in spotting a fan than taking the candy offered to him. An elderly lady around the corner even gave him an open invitation to come back at any time to look at her fan. She said that she’ll even let him play with the switch.

Jack's Halloween treats. (photo courtesy Loraine)

At the end of the night, Jack was fairly oblivious to the bucket of candy, but enjoyed a package of M&Ms, accepting that it would be the only treat in that sitting, especially after having eaten lots of chips earlier. I know that next year this sensible moderation will not be as easy. We’ve explained to him that Halloween is over for this year, and that it won’t come again for a while, and that Christmas and his birthday will come again before that. This doesn't seem to faze him at all. He’s already started talking about the fact that maybe he could get some candy for Christmas, and possibly a fan.