Day 230-231: Cabbage Night and Halloween

The day before Halloween (230) I found myself in the costume aisle at Walmart. William wanted to be a pirate (found a cute hat and pirate sword), and Taiya wanted to dress up as me, and I as her. Her instructions were to "find something boring." I got her a plaid shirt (as boring as I could find), and also just in case, some kitty ears and a tail.

Instead of trick or treating this year, we planned a candy scavenger hunt, a donut game, and I got them each a *small* toy. They were asking if they would get toys for Halloween, and I said in response, "I never got toys on Halloween when I was a kid." To which they replied, "But it's 2020!" And that was that. 

That night, which we always called Cabbage Night when I was a kid (the night before Halloween), we looped a string over a hook in the living room ceiling and tied a donut to one end, and someone held the other end. The person whose turn it was had to try to eat the dangling donut without using their hands. We all laughed so hard we cried as we took turns. The pictures say it all. 

On Halloween day I bagged up the different kinds of candies into gift baggies and created a scavenger hunt. I tucked the baggies in the various hiding places with clues to find the next candy bag. Taiya had to read each card, and they figured out the hiding spots together. I made it pretty easy: "Find the next treats where we find eggs," and that sort of thing. They ran from place to place, so excited to find the next stash. Taiya dressed up as a kitty after all, dressing as me being too boring. So Kitty and Pirate ran around from the house to the play house to the chicken coop to the hammock to the road to the creek, William with his bag slung on one shoulder and his saber swinging in his other hand. Little red and black striped pants. Bright green crocs. Taiya prancing in her black leggings and shirt, tail sashaying, fluffy ears perky. It was so much more fun than trick-or-treating. 

But! The day was not over! My coworker Robyn invited us to her house for a yard party. So after our scavenger hunt, I made the kids eat some fresh fruit to counter all the junk they already had and would be having in the near future, and then we hopped in the car and drove north. Darcy has a trampoline in her backyard, so that was a treat for them. Robyn and her husband Dave and I sat outside and chatted, and it was a lovely way to spend the afternoon. 

I hadn't planned on staying all evening, but the kids begged to be able to go trick-or-treating, so we stayed until dark. We made sure to only get candy from houses who left it outside, and while most of the houses in the neighborhood were dark, there were a few with candy set out in bowls or in treat bags on blankets by the curb. I was touched at the creativity of people still wanting to make Halloween fun for kids. Robyn and Dave had strung up twine all in front of their garage door like a spiderweb and put candy on there with clothespins for kids to take. So creative! 

I'm happy and relieved that the kids had a real holiday of a day. So much of this year has been different and disappointing, I am glad Halloween was a treat for them.