Halloween retrospective
We observed Halloween last night. The boys were very excited about their costumes, made as per tradition by Mama.
Snoopy and a pair of ninjas
Also about the prospect of lots of candy—especially Lijah. He got into the stash early, and after some considerable negotiation agreed to a dinner of chocolate cake as his "healthy food" before his candy blowout. A few other notes:
1. Candy is terrible. I hate having it in the house. Read a little from Marion Nestle on the subject. We made a batch of cookies to give out, but we also had lots of candy—and we only gave out a little bit of it while the kids brought lots more home.
2. In a blog post about their awesome trick-or-treat experience, Eric and Kelly of Root Simple point out a valuable truth: "the fun that Halloween provides really helps get to know neighbors. We need more festivals in our lives like this, where we take a break from day to day concerns and work together, on the neighborhood level, to create space for joy and unity." I've heard folks talk about lovely Halloween community experiences in Somerville and Cambridge and even Arlington; we have a little of that here in Bedford but not enough to balance out the individualistic pursuit of ever-more candy.
3. In the aftermath today the boys found and collected a plastic diamond, a spider ring, and an adult-sized hot-dog costume. One of those might come in handy one day...