Halloween Then Vs. Now

I was born in the 80's. A carefree time where life consisted of Smurf Cartoons in the morning and watching Ninja Turtles when I got home from school. Recess was the highlight of my school day.Being an only child wasn't lonely for me all the time. I made up imaginary worlds, drove my dolls around town in my pretend car, with a Frisbee as the steering wheel in our plaid love seat in the living room of our cozy apartment.Back then Halloween wasn't really a big deal with my parent. I wasn't forced to go to "Hallelujah Night" at church, thank God. My Mom said I could pick out whatever costume as long as it wasn't something like a witch or a devil or something super scary. So, I got to pick my costume, paint my face and went to something here in Kansas City at the Mall called "Trick-Or-Treat Village".It was exciting for me, they made a little village in the mall, painted it to look like little houses and people dressed up to hand out candy. Simple!Because we lived in a an apartment complex and my grandparents didn't live in a good neighborhood, going door to door to Trick-Or-Treat just wasn't a great option at that time. When we moved to a house when I was about 10, my dad took me to a few houses around the neighborhood, but being in the cold and dark really wasn't my thing.Anyways in short, Halloween was enjoyable for me. My parents didn't go all out and it wasn't a big deal to me.I got all the candy I wanted. Didn't have to share with any siblings.

Although, somehow my candy stash would dwindle down mysteriously with out me knowing it (thanks mom and dad).

However, now as a parent of a 4 year old, for the past couple years we go to a few Trunk-Or- Treats. We live on a street that doesn't have very good lighting after dark, so not many of the kids come our way.My husband on the other hand, Halloween was a bit different for him. Halloween was a big deal in their house, because both him and his sister had October Birthdays. He went door to door to Trick-Or-Treat, and wants to go here there and everywhere to Trick-Or-Treat with our son.

In past years we haven't had the best luck. Either people just aren't handing out candy or they are out taking their kids Trick-Or-Treating.

I'm not a fan of door to door Trick-Or-Treating, really. For safety reasons and personal reasons. For that my husband thinks I'm super weird.So what if I don't want to be out in the cold and dark to get candy, I'd rather stay here handing out candy, watching scary movies and eating pizza.How do you guys do Halloween? Is it different than when you were growing up?Until next time...