To Treat or to Trick?

  I really do enjoy Halloween. I like to see the kids all dressed up, going from door to door begging for candy, chips, and soda. (My neighborhood tends to be generous). I love the interaction with my neighbors and their kids, even their teenagers, maybe especially their teenagers who have some of the wittiest replies and often provide me with greatest entertainment. These are the same kids who are asking for the keys to their parent's cars even as they try to hold on to some of their childhood. The irony isn't lost on me.

    This year, however, mother nature was in no mood to cooperate. Three inches of wet sloppy stuff on my driveway did not bode well. Still, I cleared it all so I could go out and buy the required candy for the next day's festivities. I heard somewhere that handing out broccoli just doesn't go over really well. Besides, I was pretty sure the broccoli was past the edible date.

Later that day, due to pending snowstorm, the village postponed Trick O'Treating until Saturday.

   It was fine by me,  having the event on a Saturday makes more sense than a school night and it's not like the candy will go bad in a few days. Nor will it all be consumed between Thursday and Saturday. I have enough clout (and willpower) to prevent the inhabitants of my house from gobbling down our sugary hoard. Better weather would mean the kids would have more fun and possibly be able to show off their costumes a little. Right?

   Evidently there were a lot of people who would disagree with me. I saw a lot of social media posts from parents who were going to bundle their kids up and take them anyway. After all, they braved the elements when they were young and they weren't going to ruin their kid's fun. They weren't raising a bunch of wusses. Nor did they feel it appropriate to move the date. Halloween is October 31st, not some day in November!

SAY WHAT?

   I was a bit baffled by this logic. They seriously want to bundle up their kids and march them around in high winds, snow, and sleet for a bag of candy when they could enjoy the festivities at a later, more weather friendly date? And just how is marching around in sleet and snow fun? I admit, I'm not a big cold weather fan, but I can't imagine any kid "enjoying" being bundled up to trudge around while freezing for bite sized chocolate bars. Seems like a nasty trick to play on a kid.

   If you're worried about your kids becoming wusses, maybe you should consider bundling them up and going out with them to shovel neighborhood driveways the next time school is out for inclement weather (some places still call them snow days). If you're going to suffer and make your children suffer with you, helping your neighbors is far more noble cause than a bag of candy. You can build stamina and strong communities at the same time.

   As for moving the date, why not? Business Trick O'Treating, Halloween parades, and coffin races are generally held on the weekend prior to Halloween, not necessarily on the actual date, and parents don't seem to have a problem taking their kids to these events. Moreover, the village didn't push out the holiday, just the door to door Trick O'Treating portion. There were still numerous indoor activities that didn't include cold wet clothes, heavy boots, scarves, or frostbite.

Is braving this....

Worth this?

   Then there were the posts from parents who were going to double dip and go Trick O'Treating both days!!!

I have to ask, what exactly are we teaching our kids?