by Amanda Fisher |

“Mommy, mommy! Let me see!” I shrieked, begging to see my reflection. It was Halloween night and I was Winnie the Pooh. My mom had just finished putting black eyeliner on my nose to add the final touch to my costume. I was so excited to take my empty pillow case and embark on my trick-or-treating adventure. For hours, my older brothers, Chris and Brandon and I trick-or-treated in the cold October air until the streetlights came on. Once we arrived home to our mother who had been providing candy to all the neighborhood kids, we divided our treasures. Dad got the Snickers, Mom got the candy corn, Chris got anything he could get his hands on, Brandon got the licorice and I got the Reese’s. This is the first Halloween I can recall, and it’s the best one yet.
More than 10 years later, I do not participate in trick-or-treating, but it kills me that this experience is dying.
Sadly, I can picture it now. My child looking at me like I’m psycho when I reminisce about trick-or-treating and them responding, “You seriously used to go door-to-door and beg for candy?!” I feel like I can safely say my kids won’t want to trick-or-treat, unless it’s a program like Safe Halloween.
These days, parents are practically slapped on the wrist when their kids eat foods that aren’t gluten-free or aren’t enrolled in preschool by the time they’re one. Parents are way too cautious these days and think everything is dangerous. I lived for the days when I would run around outside with my friends or God forbid, ride a bicycle without a helmet.

Trick-or-treating is the highlight of fall for children. Nothing is better than dressing up and getting candy! What was just as fun was creating the perfect costume, rather than buying the typical, store-bought one. The whole point of going to peoples’ front porches is to show it off and the hard work put into it. How else would you deserve the loads of candy?

I don’t care how weird my children think it will be, they are trick-or-treating whether they like it or not. It is a memorable, carefree time in a child’s life to be silly and get rewarded for it. I guarantee when their children have children, they will thank me for dressing them up as princesses and cowboys to get candy.