Traditions Old and New

Every Halloween for the past 13 years, we've had the same tradition.

We go to Grandma's house.

We eat dinner.

The kids pass out candy to the trick-or-treaters.

We trick or treat in their neighborhood.

The kids did not really want to trick-or-treat this year.

I convinced Courtney to dress up anyway.

We partially followed our annual tradition with only one kid going door to door.

...and truthfully, she didn't go door to door.

She only went to about a dozen houses
 before she said she was ready to go back to Grandma's house.

It was cold.

There weren't as many people out.

There weren't as many houses with their porch lights on.

When we returned to Grandma's house,
we certainly didn't find our kids on the floor in the living room

 with their piles of loot all spread out around them. 
They helped themselves to more pizza and disappeared to the basement.
Sigh.
It might be the start of a new tradition.

Despite the fact that we didn't go all out on costumes and trick-or-treating,
it was fun. 
It was fun to hear the kids laughing.
It was fun to talk about scary Halloweens past. 
It was fun walking through leaf piles on the edge of the road.
It was just nice to start the holiday season with our tradition.


I will have to get creative next year.
I'm not sure if I'll be able to get my family to participate in the neighborhood walk again.


In my defense...it's the kickoff to the holidays. 
It's family time.
It's memory making at its' finest.


I'm the mom.
It's my job to hold on to these things, right?
I'm supposed to keep trying to pull us together before they grow up and move out, right?
It feels right.
It feels like the right thing to do.
Just one more Halloween before Corbin graduates from high school.
Just.  One.  More.
Yes.
I think I'll just keep trying with the traditions.