When I Was a Kid...

I'll miss Halloween this year. Not because I'll be on some other planet, but I'll be tucked upstairs at our temporary digs. We can't see or hear the outside door. No one will even know we live up here. IF it's not TOO cold, we might sit outside for awhile and hand out candy. I really do get a kick out of seeing the kids in their costumes. I think my dog, Rusty, enjoys it as much as I do. If the little ones aren't afraid of him, he gets in a few good face lickings before I can pull him back.

I miss how Halloween was when I was a kid. I have memories of getting home baked goodies - brownies, cookies decorated like jack-o-lantern faces and gingerbread. And all flavors of popcorn balls. There would be the occasional house with a witch at the door who would invite you in for some witchy brew. We'd have to take pillowcases for our collection bag, there was so much. Then when we'd get home, my cousins and I would have to fight off our mothers to keep them from stealing their favorites. That was all part of the fun.

But before I was too old to go out trick or treating, things started changing. Some kids were sickened by purposely tainted cookies. Razor blades were found in popcorn balls. People started handing out more and more packaged candy - some of it the yucky hard kind. We weren't allowed to go into neighbors homes because the scary stuff was really scary and not pretend scary anymore.

When my son was little we started throwing Halloween parties for the kids to cut back on the dangers of door to door trick or treating. We would take him to a few houses he knew then to the party. Malls began having trick or treating - store to store candy collecting.

Maybe Halloween is like I remember it in small towns across the U.S. I was raised in a city that grew to a sprawling, dangerous metropolis faster than I went from tiny one to youngster. I like to think somewhere Halloween is filled with pretend scary, brownies, popcorn balls, caramel apples and frosted cookies.

Is it big city or small town Halloween where you are? Do you steal the best treats out of your kids bags?
Brenda can be connected with at:
www.brendawhiteside.com
www.facebook.com/BrendaWhitesideAuthor
brenda@brendawhiteside.com
You can find Sleeping with the Lights On wherever e-books or print books are sold.
Look for her upcoming releases:

Tattoos, Leather and Studs coming in Nov 2011

An Elfin Secret and On the Way to the Snow Ball (anthology) in Nov 2011

Honey on White Bread coming Jan 2012

The Morning After coming summer 2012