Cowabunga--It's Trick-or-Treat Night!

Tonight's the night!  In our NH town, for some reason trick-or-treating always takes place on the night of October 30 rather than on Halloween night itself.  I'm not really sure of the reason behind this.  Someone once mentioned to me that it was because the city government was trying to discourage "Mischief Night" activities, such as smashing pumpkins and toilet papering people's lawns.  But I just thought, "Okay, wouldn't mischief-makers just push back and pull their pranks on the 29th then?  How does moving it up a day solve anything?"

ANYhoo--

For whatever reason, the 30th is the big night for scoring candy in our burg.  Here's a picture of our four oldest boys, ready to hit the streets on their first Halloween [Eve] in this town, in 1990. 

As you might have guessed, like everybody and his brother in the late 80's and early 90's, these little guys were Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle fanatics.  Big time.  And I've told this story before on this blog, but here I go again: these funny little fellas decided which characters they were going to be, without a bit of disagreement or contention (and they were a mighty competitive bunch, let me tell you), and from then on, they forever associated themselves with their specific Turtle counterparts. No arguments, no switching back and forth.  Done and done. Our oldest (in the purple mask) was Donatello; our second-oldest (in blue) was Leonardo; son #3 (in red) was Raphael; and son #4 (in orange) was Michelangelo.  Each of the Ninja Turtles had different personality traits and skills, and these four boys all reached a peaceful and unanimous consensus about which ones they should be.

I guess it's a lucky thing that our #5 son didn't come along until 1993, so that by the time he would have wanted to join the gang, the Turtle obsession was waning.  Which Turtle would he have been?  Could we have had two Michelangelos?  Two Raphaels?  (He would not have wanted to play the role of April O'Neal, that's for sure!)

Moms, enjoy these halcyon days when your kids are dressing up in cute costumes, their eyes lit up with joy at the prospect of all that sugary booty they're going to amass.  Those days fly by, and suddenly your children are too old and sophisticated to participate in Halloween activities.  Little boys who thought dressing up as their favorite Ninja Turtles was the greatest thing EVER will no longer think that's at all cool anymore.

Oh, wait.  There was that recent shopping trip, to a party store in VA, with son #4 and his wife...

Yep, that's right: 24 years after that photo of him and his brothers was taken, he's still Michelangelo for Halloween.  Thank goodness, some things never change!