Happy Halloween!

Halloween has followed me through many different stages of my life. First it was the thrill of trick or treating and getting candy. Then being able to trick or treat by myself. Next were the years of haunted houses and Fright Fest since I was too old to participate in the kid activities. And then the college years were I used Halloween as another excuse for a theme party. Post-college years were spent bar hopping in the city. And through all those different types of Halloweens, this year was the best by far.

We spent weeks teaching Drew what would be involved. Each step closer was filled with excitement and anticipation, a couple times resulting in temper tantrums over trick or treating not coming soon enough. Every time I brought home more decorations or something else to add to the Halloween spirit, he screamed with glee!

Friday was the big kickoff to Halloween – his school festivities. He woke up with a buzz and couldn’t stop talking about all that was to come. First there was the parade where the kids walk around the gym and then the classroom party. As I sat waiting for Drew to emerge in the parade, I had butterflies in my stomach. Every different Halloween activity I participated in previous to this day had no significance in comparison to seeing my little dog (his costume) march around the gymnasium. And as he got closer and closer to me, I noticed the little boy that was nothing but smiles earlier that morning was sobbing. All the adults scared him! Funny, the kids were the ones in the costumes! I couldn’t help but love Halloween even more because he came running into my arms wanting protection!

As the weekend continued, we got past the fear of the parade. He even wanted to do the parade again. As the trick or treating began, I was afraid we would have a repeat of the parade. At the first house he marched up and rang the doorbell with joy of pushing the button. As the door opened he backed up and was nervous. I shouted trick or treat but he held back. After a couple of houses he started shouting along, a few houses even got a little bark out of him.

After trick or treating, we had a Halloween party with the grandparents. I don’t know if he was so hyper from the thrill of Halloween or the sugar rush. After the evening was over, everything was cleaned up, our little puppy dog fell asleep in three seconds. The excitement from the day turned into exhaustion. And as I munched on his candy, I realized that Halloween has never and could never be more fun than it was October 31, 2010.