Girl’s Life

The look on Sophia’s face pretty much sums up Halloween for me ever since I was a little kid. I don’t know what it is about this holiday, but it has always made me a little giddy — even now. Dressing up in costumes, free candy, scary movies — what’s not to love? I can remember coming home from elementary school on Halloween and begging my mom to let us go trick-or-treating as soon as I stepped foot in the house. I can’t imagine that I would have gotten too much candy going door-to-door at 3:00 pm. My mom was smart to make me wait till dark.

Then on to high school and college where I never gave in to the notion that you had to grow up. That I was too old too be dressed as Waldo scoping out the neighborhoods with the best candy.

Now that I have a child, I get to relive all the excitement and anticipation that I loved as a kid. And from the looks of it, the apple didn’t fall too far from the tree. Sophia’s only just over a year old and she can already tell that something cool happens this time of year. Donning her tutu put a little spring in her step. Seeing spooky lawn decorations and glowing jack-o-lanterns made her eyes sparkle with wonder. Everything is new and exciting. For me, it gives Halloween a whole new breath of life.

Unfortunately, someday soon she’s going to actually realize what people are filling her bag with is sweet, edible, sugary candy. And however much I’d like to believe that I will be able to keep using her as a guise for getting people to hand over their candy to me, she’s going to wise up soon enough. Let’s just see how long I can ride this gravy train before that happens…