On the outside, I try to project an image of having it all together. But underneath that, I'm kind of a disaster. Hence... the name of the site: GlossyVeneer. I love Halloween. We have our lighted skeletons in the yard and all of our pumpkins are purchased, waiting to be carved later this week. (We can’t carve them any earlier, we don’t want the design to cave in or the pumpkin to rot too soon!) And even though we have no children yet, we really enjoy spending the night at home and handing candy out to all the trick-or-treaters that come to the door. We are especially fond of little princesses and tiny superheros. Teenagers in ‘Scream’ masks? Not as much.
I always loved Halloween as a kid. I was quite devastated to be “too old” to trick-or-treat, but I also understood that it was just weird and creepy. I looked forward to dressing up (my mom made us great costumes) and gathering my loot before heading to the Halloween party at the school. And when I got home I would dump out my bag of goodies and sort it all, saving my favorites until the very end and pawning off the “yucky” stuff to people who wanted it. (For me, it was the Bit O’Honey and Smarties. And pennies… why did people give kids pennies? I preferred toothbrushes from dentists homes over the dumb pennies.)
So that’s part of the reason I always hate reading those articles that pop up at this time of year about keeping Halloween healthier. Yes, I am a health nut. I deprive myself of sweets and fats and grease and about every other supposedly “decadent” thing in this world. I live in fear of being unhealthy and out of shape. But I adamantly refuse to play the game these articles recommend because I also remember what a thrill Halloween was for me as a kid.
The articles that recommend only giving out candy that you dislike so you don’t snack, or handing out prizes like pencils and stickers… well, that’s never going to happen in my house. I know I don’t need all that candy around tempting me. And for the most part I am really good at ignoring it. What I can’t ignore is the pangs of guilt for even considering giving out something that isn’t tasty.
I know that some parents are probably dreading the sugar-high their kids may have for days after. And it does make me sad to see so many really chubby kids walking around in this world now. But for one night, I’m doing my part to contribute to that in the form of Snickers, Twix, Milky Way, M&M’s and other delicious forms of sugar.
PS – Check out the giveaway on Bethany’s site for uber-cute Halloween bags. I would be tempted to enter, but I think they should go to people who actually have little tykes in need of trick-or-treat bags!
