Dressing up and collecting candy–what kid wouldn’t want to do that? As a kid the only time I got to go trick-or-treating was when I was not at home. Both times were so incredibly fun! So I tend to not glamorize the ugly, scary, ghoulish things and let my kids dress up in fun costumes and go candy collecting. And it is so much fun!
Our spider costume receives rave reviews every year. Yes, every year. Little Jason is the fourth of our children to wear it and use the matching candy collecting bag with real spider noises. While I think dressing up and collecting candy is awesomely fun, I do draw a line. While most families, it seems, lets each child decided what the want to be and then goes shopping, we have a family costume closet. It’s either come up with your own costume or make use of one we have. The kids are usoed to it and know to expect that. Faith decided to make up her own costume this year and went as a spy. I loved it!
Well off we went to collect candy. I heard one mom scolding her child to slow down. He I smiled at her. Then as soon as she was out of hearing range I whispered to mine, “Hurry! It’s getting dark. There are lots more houses!” 🙂
And then we were home with our loot! I think the children have more fun collecting, looking at, and sorting the candy than actually eating it, and that’s just fine with me!

LOVE IT! All the years we’ve been “collecting candy” I never thought to call it that. Love the costumes. We do the same thing, no purchasing…unless it’s real clothes you can wear again, like new camo pants so you can an “army man” for the 3rd year in a row. When all 3 of ours used to “collect” we would come home, each one would dump theirs in a pile, sort it then trade for their favorite things. Thanks for sharing!