I spent Halloween evening sitting on the front porch of a southern home. As the costume-clad children climbed the steps to receive a treat, they faced eight adults sitting in a semicircle with wine glasses in hand. Talk about scary! Some of the kids walked right up. Others got wide-eyed and approached timidly. I ended up being the greeter and directed them to the candy man who was sitting in the middle of the group.
The costumes ranged from a perfect three year old Dracula to a thirteen-year-old Marie Antoinette complete with powdered wig. Watching the variety of children made me realize all those NPR stories about immigration must be true. Many of the young children were Hispanic children in adorable costumes escorted by their beautiful young mothers. About a third of the candy seekers were older African American children escorting their younger brothers and sisters and cousins. The final third of the trick-or-treaters were some preteen white kids roaming the neighborhood in groups.
The night ended as I looked over my shoulder to see my former students, now middle schoolers, sitting in a circle on the opposite side of the porch trading candy in the Martha Stewart glow of the evening.
1 comment:
your night sounds perfecto.
you may have read that i didn't get to pass out candy. at all.
but my sixers did bring in the almond joys for me the next day. none of them like almond joys so i just kept eating them during class right in front of them.
it was fun.
more good news...you're on my blogroll, amigo!
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