Tricks and Treats

Posted by Manda(rific) on October 31, 2010 in Assorted Ramblings, Ramble | 2 comments

Ah, Halloween.

This year is my first time ever giving out candy, and it’s enjoyable despite having to get up every four or five minutes, and despite having a headache – which is making the whole getting-up-and-going-downstairs-and-talking-to-people thing a bit hnngh, but such is Halloween.

I’m kind of disappointed by the sheer volume of store-bought costumes… and, naturally, the amount of you-are-obviously-too-old-for-this teenagers coming around for free candy handouts. Shouldn’t the, like, have jobs? And be able to buy candy? There’s also the interesting volume of “I have these wings, and these cat ears, and this makeup, lets just throw it all together!” which is, I suppose, a bit “classic” of them – but I’m all about the costumes.

I was incredibly fortunate that my mother was as enthusiastic (or, at least, acted that way) about making sure I had a “cool” Halloween costume as I was. Last year was the first time I ever purchased a costume from a store – before that, everything was handmade. Even the year before when I went as Eve from WALL-E. Besides the costumes, my mother had tactics. One year we went trick-or-treating twice in the same neighborhood; I had two costumes and swapped out once I’d hit up all the houses. Another year she brought a second bag for candy – I’d go to a house with an empty bag, they’d take pity on me and give me extra candy, and I’d dump it in the bigger bag. Tactics.

So my mother’s home-made costumes. The earliest one I ever remember wearing was, against my own selection I’m sure, a clown, with sewed on pom poms and everything. Another year I was the yellow Power Ranger, down to the little white flaps to go over my shoes. Then there was the flower costume – I don’t know why I was a flower, but my mom was very adamant about every costume can be created out of a sweatsuit. I have no idea how many years I dressed in a sweatsuit with other costumes.

Two of my favorites were, one year and the next, my best friend and I dressed as the red and blue M&Ms (I was red) – my mom made sandwich-board costumes with two big, red, circular pillows (That she made herself) and strapped ‘em over our sweatsuits. The next year was the same tactic, but the sandwich board was made out of hard foam core and we were playing cards. This would have been a much better idea but it was astonishingly difficult to move with a giant sandwich board strapped to you.

I know I had other costumes over the years, but those were some of my favorites. This year? I’m recycling my bee costume from last year while I hand out the candy. Did you have a Halloween costume this year? What was your favorite from past years? Share away in the comments!