Halloween - A Full Circle Moment

Who would have thought Halloween would become a full circle moment? 

When my daughter was young, the costumes I made for her were all cute - a butterfly one year, a box of popcorn the next, followed by a veterinarian and a beautiful princess. Adorable, non-frightening characters. She was excited to collect candy and happy to walk house to house. Naturally, we went with her. 

In those earlier years, we couldn’t run the risk of our house being egged, so we left candy in a bowl on the step with a note to take just one like most families with younger children. We would arrive back at the house to find the bowl empty, and I always wondered if the neighborhood kids took just one or if there was one person who took the whole lot. 

As my daughter grew older, she was in charge of what she would wear on Halloween, and let’s just say, she was no longer a butterfly or a good witch. These were the years she ventured with friends, and we stayed back to hand out the candy. 

It was fun to see the little ones coming to the door in their cute costumes. I particularly liked those dressed as firefighters and princesses. The older I got, the less I recognized the characters they were dressed up as - like the ones from Pokemon or Libby Folfax from Jimmy Neutron.

My husband would ask, Now who are you? We’d get the eye roll with the explanation just before a hand grabbed as much loot as could be from the outstretched bowl.

Things changed again during COVID-19. By October, we were advised that it was safe to be outside as long as we kept a distance of six feet from one another. It was like being released from prison. The brave ventured out to resume a sense of normalcy.

A friend tells the story of how she opened her window as the kids walked toward her house. She’d throw the candy toward the open bags until she got it in. Naturally, the smart ones kept moving their bags hoping she’d miss, picking up the extras from the grass. A new way to grab as much loot as could be.

A friend in her late 80’s is less excited about Halloween and has no interest in seeing the little ones come to her door. It interrupts her watching Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy. For her, it’s easier to leave the candy in a bowl on the step with a note to take just one.

Full circle.

Only these days with the doorbell camera, you can see who's taking just one and who is taking the whole lot.