Wednesday, September 4, 2019

We Are Not Hosting Our Usual Halloween Party This Year


With all the time I've spent working on Fall and Halloween pieces in the Bodacious DIY Dog Mom Project workshop, I've thought a lot about Halloween. For the past 6 years, we've always hosted a Halloween party of sorts at our home. We invite neighbor friends and beyond. I make a gigantic "cauldron" of corn chowder, homemade bread, pumpkin whoopie pies, and other treats. This year, none of that is going to happen...

We are taking a break.

Lisa and I made this decision the day after last year's Halloween Party. Nothing specific happened that led us to make that decision. We were simply just overwhelmed and exhausted.

It's overwhelming and exhausting every year. 

We want to get back to basics.

We moved into our home in July of 2012. That year for Halloween, we ordered takeout for dinner. Pizza. We sat on the porch during the trick or treat hours. Handing out candy. Eating pizza. Sipping coffee. Sneaking a piece of candy here and there.

Just the 2 of us. 

The following year is when our home became Halloween Party Central.

Don't get me wrong, it's been a lot of fun. We've made a lot of memories.

That includes 2017 when we were hit with a massive wind storm (a bombogenesis) on the overnight a couple of days before Halloween. We lost power for almost 2 days. On the day of Halloween, power was restored mid-afternoon. I wasn't able to make my usual spread, but I whipped up a couple of homemade pizzas and the party commenced.

I'll even go a step further and say that we feel a little guilty for making this decision.

However.

Lisa and I need a break.

No explanations needed.

We're officially declaring Halloween as a stay at home date night.

I'll probably make my annual pumpkin whoopie pies for our neighbor friends during the day.

I'm making homemade pizza for Lisa and me.

We're going to sit on the porch with a huge basket of candy during trick or treat hours.

We'll put the gate up between the living room and kitchen. Our kids will have several rooms to roam. They won't have to be in the bedroom and home office.

I won't have to spend the entire day prepping and cooking and baking.

I'll be able to hand out candy the entire duration.

I won't have to run back and forth a bazillion times.

There will be no massive cleanup at the end of the night or the following morning.

We can just exhale.

Back. To. Basics.







No comments:

Post a Comment