Happy Halloween!

As a kid I remember hopping off the school bus, running upstairs to change into my costume, rushing my 10+ cousins to hurry up and get dressed, then heading out and getting all the candy my heart desired. My neighborhood was FILLED with kids and we used to come home with pillow cases full of candy! Then we all got older and realized that there weren't as many kids trick or treating since we technically were the kids of the neighborhood and we're all in college now. BUT, the best part about having a kid of your own is that you get to experience all these things all over again with your child!

JAM is 6 now so he wants a little more say in what he will be for Halloween. Apparently mom doesn't know what's cool anymore haha. Living in Las Vegas, NV I noticed that Halloween works a little differently here compared to in Chicago. Instead of going trick or treating right after school, the kids go trick or treating once it gets dark, which usually isn't until around 6pm. I remember the first year we moved here, JAM was 3 years old. He was old enough to sort of understand the concept of Halloween so he was really excited to go trick or treating. He's been practicing saying "Trick or Treat" for a couple of weeks now. I picked him up from preschool around 1pm and he was ready to go, but I told him he had to wait a little bit since it was still to early. I said once his older cousins get home from school that we can go. He waited downstairs in his costume sweating his butt off until they came home! We waited for them to get ready and it was about 4 or 4:30pm when we went out to trick or treat. NO ONE WAS ANSWERING! My little man was so bummed. The ones who did answer were surprised to see us and said that they haven't even bought candy yet since they weren't expecting kids this early. Huh? Finally our neighbor across the street answered WITH candy and told us that he's from NYC and he remembered how kids used to trick or treat after school back home too. However, in Vegas kids don't start trick or treating until it's completely dark. Interesting. We reminisced for a bit and then went back home to wait for it to become dark out. He wasn't kidding. The streets went from deserted to FILLED with kids once 6pm hit.

This year JAM decided to be Rafael from TMNT. I'm dressing up as Wonder Woman hehe. I made it a little fun and made a tutu for myself to wear. We're going trick or treating with fellow mamas this year to make it a little more fun while Mahal stays home to hand out candy since I did it last year. I hope everyone has a fun and safe Halloween this year! Be safe! Wear glow sticks or reflective tape so that cars can see the kiddos. Check their candy. If you're driving, take it a little bit slower today to watch out for trick or treaters. We had a couple deaths last year because kids and drivers weren't being safe in the streets. Especially watch out for drunk drivers as the late night approaches. Sometimes people don't make the same assumptions that us parents do when it comes to safety on Halloween. HAVE FUN TONIGHT and I hope you guys get all the candy your heart desires.

What are you and your kiddos dressing up as for Halloween?