Penny Halloweens

Happy Halloween!!
Originally uploaded by Just Us 3

Once in a young lifetime one should be allowed to have as much sweetness as one can possibly want and hold. -- Judith Olney

Standing in the Wal-Mart the other night, I decided that Halloween candy prices are tantamount to highway robbery. I REFUSE to pay $7 for a single bag of the brand name stuff. I'd have to spend almost $20 on candy to get a decent assortment--unacceptable! Alas, the $2 bargain assortment was not only unappetizing but will clearly label me as the neighborhood cheapskate with the lame candy. Hmm, what to do?

As we recently relocated to the north Dallas area and are juggling all the related expenses required to make our new home habitable, I'm afraid the trick-or-treaters will find slim pickins' at our door this year. I discussed it with Himself the other day and his answer was nickels. Yep, a couple rolls of nickels at $2 each & we give each child one nickel. Huh. So, we pay the children. For coming to our door. We buy off every little ghost and ghoulie and pirate and Hannah Montana that appears on our doorstep. This is not my favorite idea.

I should probably tell you at this point that the "cash solution" was also near & dear to my mother's heart. Except she gave out pennies from our loose change jar. I begged her not to--my brother & I were firmly convinced one of the local teenage hooligans, blatantly abusing the childhood privilege to trick-or-treat, would receive a penny at our door and come back around 3 a.m. to egg our house. In fact, we waited up each year Mom handed out pennies, just in case. Brother & I also refused to answer the door on Penny Halloweens--mortified we might come face to face with our classmates and have to drop 3 pennies thud, thud, thud into their plastic pumpkin buckets. We made Mom greet the trick-or-treaters instead.

Funny thing was, in those days everybody seemed stoked to receive change. They'd stop the next batch of kids on their way up the walk and say, "Hey, they're giving out money!" A few even came back later in the evening for a second helping. Mom never let on she knew they were double-dipping. She was thinking about being egged at 3 a.m. too.

The "cash solution" is healthier than candy, I suppose. But I still can't bring myself to turn the magical custom of trick-or-treating into a cash transaction. I might as well dress up as an ATM. Kids want the magic of that goodie dropping into their sack. They remember the goodwill of neighbors who open their homes and hearts on that special night to little ones dressed up in their own imaginations. To that end, I have a few suggestions for cheap, sugar-free goodies that will keep the magic intact.

My favorite thing to give out on Halloween is glow sticks. I've never met a child who wasn't mesmerized by their chemical magic. A glow stick is more fun than candy and sugar-free to boot. They also make the munchkins more visible while cruising the neighborhood after dark. Glow sticks are available in bulk through a variety of online retailers. There are many different sizes, styles and colors to pick from. This option becomes much less expensive if you split your order with friends or relatives (each family can order a different color or necklaces instead of sticks) or if you're planning to order enough sticks to give out next year too. Most of the sites I visited guaranteed their sticks could be stored for at least 2 years. Otherwise, keep an eye on your local pop-up Halloween shop. They may put their sticks on sale the day of Halloween. Shopping the day after could net you a booty of sticks for next year at a discount rate too.

Other ideas for non-food goodies include: giving out plastic spider or bat rings--they can be bought in packages of 50+ for less than $3 each at many craft stores; plastic bugs or eyeballs; bubbles; play-doh; temporary tattoos; stickers; Halloween-themed mini erasers, pencils or any of the holiday-specific doo-dads available at your local party store.

It's Halloween! It's Halloween! The moon is full and bright/ And we shall see what can't be seen On any other night. Skeletons and ghosts and ghouls, Grinning goblins fighting duels/ Werewolves rising from their tombs, Witches on their magic brooms/ In masks and gown we haunt the street /And knock on doors for trick or treat/ Tonight we are the king and queen, For oh tonight it's Halloween! -Jack Prelutsky

Happy Haunting!