The Weighting Game

"I can't WAIT to go trick-or-treating! Is it time yet?" Even the Princess who hadn't the slightest idea what all of the excitement was about issued an occasional "Boppypop?" Though oblivious about the holiday, she knew one thing: she had been promised lollipops at some point during the day. Yes, it was a true waiting game around here all day as the kids waited for dusk to arrive. When it finally did, they were turned loose (under supervision, of course) in their aunt and uncle's neighborhood. They were quite a sight: 2 knights, one princess, and one ladybug all darting from house to house, their buckets becoming considerably heavier with each stop.

Neighbors were especially generous this year, and it didn't take long until the kids' baskets were close to overflowing. My favorite steals? (And, yes, I said "steals" as the kids do eventually go to bed, leaving me with their loot.): anything chocolate, of course, but I hate to deprive the children, so it's Now and Laters and Bottle Caps. Consequently, and through no fault but my own, this whole Halloween thing becomes quite the weighting game for me.

The waiting game continues for the kids right now as they lay in bed anticipating tomorrow, a day of fewer candy restrictions than days to follow. The natural rules of cause and effect dictate, of course, that such freedom will inevitably mean more of a weighting game for me as well.

(By the way, here's a tip: Should a parent choose to play a waiting game in replacing a missing trick-or-treat bucket, this parent may end up having to purchase a Christmas basket for her (or his) child as a last resort. The Christmas baskets, incidentally, cost 7 times more than those plastic pumpkins.)