Happy Halloween
Meredith and I did our usual Trick or Treating in downtown Lisle with Connie and Alysha. However, it was a little different because the downtown area is completely under construction and there were fewer kids out and about. Also, about halfway through, Alysha decided that she was done trick or treating. She was tired and her feet hurt. Her Uncle Don carried her for most of the way back to the cars. Meredith had planned on going to Alysha’s neighborhood with her and hitting some houses. With Alysha quitting early, we went home, dumped Mere’s bag out and called a couple of her friends in the Meadows. It seemed like everyone was out trick or treating, so Mere and I took off to roam the meadows, looking for her friends. We found them, so Meredith jumped out of the car with a “see you later, Mom”.
WHOA! I made sure that I knew which kids she was with (I didn’t know by sight a couple of them), and verified that she would go home with one of the girls and call me from there. I gave her my cell phone and hoped I’d get it back later. It felt really weird to just leave her to roam the streets with her friends. But I want her to be a “Free Range Kid“, and she is in 4th grade. By 4th grade, I was roaming the neighborhood with my friends.
She ended up at Jessy’s house and asked to stay a while and go trick or treating with Jessy’s family. Jessy’s dad took Meredith, Jessy and Jessy’s little sisters out for some after-dark trick or treating. By the time she got home, she was happy, hungry and exhausted. We’d already eaten, and she’d had hot dogs at Jessy’s, but she and I headed out to McDonalds to get her a snack. On the way, she told me that it was the biggest and most fun Halloween ever. She also said that she was really happy because, in the past, Halloween was all about being “cute”, NOW, it’s all about being “scary”.
I think that my days of trick or treating are over. I expect that next year, she will make arrangements to go with her friends and Mom will assume the role of transportation provider. As it should be.
Originally published at A dog's life. You can comment here or there.