The first time my children went trick-or-treating together, the older was Dora the Explorer and the younger was her sidekick, Boots. Another time, one was Cinderella and the other was Sleeping Beauty.
They’ve always been Halloween partners, and even when the older one stopped going trick-or-treating, the younger one voluntarily shared her candy at the end of the night. They would both sit at the kitchen table and sift through the goods, negotiating about who got the Milky Way and who got the Smarties.
This year all that changes, because my younger daughter will have braces just in time for Halloween.
I knew a long time ago that braces were inevitable. After nearly two years of retainers, extractions, dental scans and orthodontist visits, the girl got her grill this fall. She was excited, but also had a bucket list of meals to check off. One good dinner at Olive Garden. The final bowl of popcorn. The last stick of gum for a good long while.
All was well until she realized she would have braces before Halloween. Uh-oh.
Most kids, if they are honest, don’t care much about dressing up at Halloween. Deep down, dress up is a means to an end that is covered in gooey chocolate and sugar. We see the gamut of trick-or-treaters in our neighborhood, from the cute little pumpkins pushed in strollers to the teens dressed as zombies. The payoff for all of them is candy.
So what happens if you can’t actually eat that candy? Could this be our last year for trick-or -treat?
When my daughter was a first grader, she spent a week in the hospital and missed every single school and community Halloween event, including trick or treat. Since then, she has attacked the holiday with gusto. Last year we spent every moment of Findlay’s trick or treat time in our neighborhood, starting from the back where no one goes and working our way forward for the full 90 minutes.
During the summer we started discussing trick or treat (I told you she takes it seriously). There might be some candy she can have. There are, however, dentists and charities that accept candy to send to our overseas soldiers. That sounds like a good fit for us.
Last spring we sent a huge box of candy and other goodies to my niece’s husband who was stationed in Afghanistan. It was more about making sure he knew he was loved and missed, and he shared the bounty with everyone on base. He said he was the most popular guy around for the day or two it took for everyone to have a handful of home.
So it looks like trick or treat is a ‘go’ this year, even if my daughter can only have a piece or two of treasured candy. The rest will go to a bunch of men and women we don’t know, but who will receive the candy as an inadequate, but heartfelt, thank you.
