Mostly tricks for my family tonight, unfortunately.  It wasn’t really a banner night for the Shepherd kids.

I’ve always loved Halloween.  I was bummed out that this year I’d be working during trick-or-treat hours, so I had a brilliant idea.

I would take the kids trick or treating to ONE neighbor-friend’s house at 8pm, after the 7:00 newscast.

Of course, that’s normally their bedtime, but what the heck, it’s one special night, right?

So Spiderman (Cal) and Dorothy (Clara) waited patiently in the superhero outfit and sparkly red shoes for me to get home from work.   (See new photo in the photo album!) Ian helped them answer the door and hand out candy, until finally I arrived to take them out on the trick-or-treat adventure

  Dorothy didn’t care much about the kids we were visiting, or their toys for that matter. She was jamming candy into her mouth as fast as she could shove her little hand into her bucket.

     Spidey didn’t care about the candy - he was into the other kids’ toys.  They were WAY too exciting to share - even with the kids who they belonged to.   I watched my superhero turn into a caveman before my during a tussle over a toy.

    Wow - did I wish those ruby slippers could have clicked us home right then.  

    After I made my mortified apology and quick exit, both the little darlings wailed all the way home - Cal because he wanted to keep trick-or-treating at other houses, Clara because she dropped a piece of out of her mouth into the grass,  and desperately wanted to retrieve it.

At least we got a happy picture for the photo album before the night went south. 

I hope this makes you fellow parents feel a little better if any part of your Halloween turned into a bit of a horror story.

Thanks for reading!

TS