File 92 - Bonbon Businessmen


Have you seen the plague doctors from back in the day?  I am talking like back in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries.  They wore the most terrifying masks you have ever seen, with these long, horrifying beaks. They would also be cloaked in these long robes.  Attending the sick, looking like some depraved birdmen from the depths of hell.  That shit is sca-ry.  I feel like I missed a good opportunity for a Halloween costume this year, though.  Trick or beak.  Ewww!

Halloween was definitely different, this year.  No one in our family donned a costume.  Seeing as how they wouldn't be out trick-or-treating, the littles opted for some new, comfy Halloween jammies, rather than a ghoulish guise.  To be fair, we are pyjama people.  This pandemic has only fed our penchant for pyjamas.  Getting dressed is the equivalent of putting on formal wear, these days.  

The fact that All Hallows Eve fell on a Saturday night, and with a full moon at that, were also anomalies.  This spooky celebration falling on a weekend is a parent's dream come true.  No sending your child to school with their costume or part of their costume, hoping that they come home with it and that it does not get ruined.  No rushing home from work, slapping some half-assed supper on the table.  No figuring out how to layer clothing underneath costumes, as it will no doubt be cold and snowing or raining.  No forgetting to light the jack o'lanterns and turn on the porch light, before the tiniest of trick-or-treaters appear at your door.  No typical hour and a half of Halloween havoc.  Not to mention, when you get back home from the treat tour, rushing your babies to sort through their goodies, pick a couple of treats, brush their teeth and get to bed.  With it being on a Saturday this year, it eliminated all of that Halloween hurrying.  Unfortunately, it came at a time when the kids couldn't trick-or-treat.  

With another pandemic pivot, we decided to do an outdoor and indoor scavenger hunt.  We took our boys and our puppy boy, on a long afternoon walk to look at the Halloween decorations around the neighbourhood.  We gave them each a spooky checklist.  It was a hit until the boys hands got cold and the puppy was crying to be picked up.  When darkness fell, we sent the boys upstairs and hid paper ghosts and pumpkins around the house.  We set up our kitchen island as a "candy store", outfitted with lots of bitesize goodies.  We lit a ton of candles and our jack o'lanterns and turned out the rest of the lights.  Armed with tiny flashlights, the sweet boys, adorned in their adorable Halloween jammies, set out to find the hidden scary stationary to use as currency for candy.  Little bonbon business men, if you will.  This hunt was received a lot better than the one earlier.  And since it was a Saturday night, the candy connoisseurs got to enjoy some of their treats, while watching a Halloween movie.   

So, it was a peculiar Halloween, this year.  Although, isn't that the spirit of the holiday?  There may not have been costumes and trick-or-treating.  But, there was creepy checklists and currency for candy. Overall, it was still a scary success. 

And no old-time plague doctor.  That beak is too much horror for anyone.  

Does Mommy need to lose her shit?

Not this week.    

Comments