A Different Kind of Scary

Halloween.  Bumble bees, Harry Potter, Tweens dressed in regular cloths, carrying pillow cases while on the hunt for treats.

Halloween has come and gone, bellowing in the winter holiday season.

My mom was excited for Halloween yesterday.  She dressed in black with a bright orange polo shirt; waiting for the day to turn to night so that she could pass out candy to the kids.   Trick or Treat has always been something that my mom enjoyed; last night after dinner we set her up in front of the door with a big bowl of candy.

Mom played with the candy; picking it up, looking at it and sorting it on a little table next to the chair that we put in front of the door for her to sit and wait for the kids.

I had left the room for a few minutes.  Mom was sitting with the big bowl of candy, happily picking it up and putting it down as she waited for the children to arrive.  Brian left the room for less than a minute.  During that time, a group of kids came to the door.

My husband saw the kids, standing frozen and not sure what to do, on the other side of our glass stormed door.  My mom sitting in her chair with naturally wild hair and a frown face, one she often wears when she's trying to figure out what she's seeing, real kids were at the door... she looked scary.

The kids, they stood and waited.  They saw the big bowl of candy in mom's lap and knew that there were treats waiting for them... do they run away or wait... the look that the kids had on their faces was funny.  Mom, she was oblivious.

Brian opened the door and handed out candy to each of the tween boys standing in the door.  My mom tried to give the candy to the kids but it was a bit overwhelming to do by herself.

Each group of kids that arrived were a bit taken back by the sight of my mom in the doorway.  I shut off the light inside because I wanted our house to look a little creepy.  Who knew that having a demented old lady sitting in the doorway would have such an awesome scary affect.

The kids that came to the door were respectful and once they realized my mom was demented, they smiled as though they were seeing their own Gram.  Each kid lined up in an orderly way, no shoving or pushing... mom even managed with a little help from my husband or me to give handfuls of candy to each kid.

During the time that we were waiting for kids to arrive, my mom hallucinated about children.  She kept trying to give her imaginary Trick-o-Treater's candy.  I would hear her say in a sweet soft voice, "Come here.  Come on.  I have something for you."  Then she'd make the sound that one makes when calling a cat... it made me laugh.

Last night, we had a different kind of scary for the kids that showed up at our door.  We showed them the reality of what it is to get old and demented.

At the end of the night I said to my mom, "Ok, it's 8:00, Halloween is over."

My mom turned to me and said, "Ok, now it's time for me to have a piece of this candy!  Ha Ha Ha.... just kidding."

I love my mom, she didn't disappoint me by at least TRYING to snag a sweet treat.