BOO…hoo…

I miss dressing up on Halloween. First and foremost, there is the candy. Legitimate fact…you don’t gain weight when consuming massive amounts of Halloween candy dressed in a costume…you are already humiliated as an adult so the candy is caloric and guilt free compensation. And then there is the guilty pleasure of sneaking into your kid’s room and quietly looting their bag for the giant candy bars.

I loved dressing up as a kid, but until I had a child I never felt the complete joy of witnessing how unbelievably adorable your infant and toddler looks as a pumpkin and a ballerina.

As she grew, costumes became less generic and more intricate. In the first grade, Courtny turned political and dressed as my projected next president, Hillary Rodham Clinton, attired in a vintage size 0 Chanel suit from a fab secondhand store in San Francisco with kitten heel shoes with a gold buckle adornment. David dressed as Bill and I, being the most childish, was Chelsea, carrying Socks, the White House feline.

Her costumes became increasingly labor intensive as Courtny and David spent weeks simulating pagers, cell phones, slot machines, (David and I joined ranks as the Royal Flushes, complete with toilet seats around our necks) and Courtny as Lucille Ball with her head in a TV, re-enacting the I Love Lucy show.

When we went door to door, I secretly shed tears behind my mask as she eagerly approached every single house and repeatedly said, “Trick or Treat” and modeled her latest incarnation. We always decked out the house and changed our answering machine’s ring to, Monster Mash.

This year, Courtny was invited to an industry Halloween party and it did my heart good as she and David joined forces to create a Tinder costume (for the uninformed, Tinder is a dating service). Her costume was clever and current.

Halloween is a great family event that does not require mandatory cooking, catering or inviting unwanted relatives. It is just a creative, fun, frivolous and delicious way to spend a fall evening.

So everyone, young and old alike, enjoy Halloween and I hope you turn some tricks and have lots of treats.