Trick-or-treat memories

My husband took the kids trick or treating a few streets over in his parent's neighborhood. Most of the people that live in that neighborhood have lived there for 30 years and saw my husband grow up. It brought them so much pleasure to see my husband bringing our kids around. There were quite a few neighbors that made up special goodie bags for our kids - some of them included healthier items like trail mix, and even a few dollar bills. One neighbor had a table set up with drinks set out in their driveway and was giving bottled water to the grown ups and juice boxes to the kids. When the kids arrived back home to our neighborhood they were thrilled with their experience. We did ring a few doorbells on our end of the neighborhood.

Even though there were countless "alternative to trick-or-treating" activities, I still like the magic of neighborhood trick-or-treating. I find it to be a little on the silly side for churchs to hold "trunk or treats" where kids walk around cars that have trunks open and pick up candy. I think it takes all the work out of it. My kids walked over 2 miles last night - laughing and shining their flashlights all the way. We also got to meet many of our neighbors.

I think next year, I might encourage some of the neighbors on my end of the street to hang out with me in the driveway with the firepit and some healthy snacks. I'd love to see Halloween for my kids be like it was for me and my sisters when we were growing up. I don't remember being out for hours collecting a ton of candy. I do remember all of our neighbors being outside and laughing our way from house to house coming home with a few trinkets, some candy and a full UNICEF box.