Halloween such a special time for kids
Published 8:14 pm Friday, October 28, 2016
I had to work hard to keep tears from rolling down my cheeks as I watched the kids at the Crawford Street United Methodist Church Playschool Fall Festival on Wednesday. Those little guys were so cute dressed in their Halloween costumes and running around the church’s Floral Hall. It reminded me of the days when I was a young mother, and it was my babies who were the school’s students.
One little girl who was laughing and running around reminded me of my oldest, blonde and full of energy. She did not need mommy or daddy close by, she was confident without them.
Then there was the little red head. I had a red head, too.
The days when my children were young will go down as some of the best times of my life, and Halloween especially was always a day that we all enjoyed.
It’s funny, I still remember most of my kids’ costumes.
One year my son dressed as Dracula. We bought him a black cape and painted a dark widows peak on his forehead, and he loved wearing those vampire teeth!
My middle daughter was the shy one in the group and was fearful of venturing too far from me for many of her younger years. Fortunately she grew out of that phase, and there was one Halloween when I remember she wore an antebellum styled dress.
And on that night, she did not seem to have a timid bone in her body with that costume, she acted every bit the prissy Southern Belle, parasol and all.
Those playschool fall festivals were fun, but it truly was the neighborhood Halloween parties that were the season’s highlight.
All our friends and neighbors would gather together at someone’s home where we would serve hotdogs, chips and brownies before heading out to trick-or-treat. As the kids got older, we transitioned to meeting in the cul-de-sac on one of the neighborhood streets.
We would set up tables and folks would bring a smorgasbord of finger foods.
For one of the gatherings, I remember a dad even rigged up a trailer and hooked it to his four-wheeler. All the kids and some of us adults piled on as we made our way from house to house.
Even though the parties were geared for the kids, us grown-ups also had a good time.
I may not be buying and making costumes or walking the streets any more since my little goblins are grown and gone, but that will not keep me from remembering my wonderful memories of Halloween days gone by.
Happy Halloween!
Terri Cowart Frazier is a staff writer at The Vicksburg Post. You may reach her at terri.frazier@vicksburgpost.com. Readers are invited to submit their opinions for publication.