Trick or Treat 2025 (Part One)

Most small communities in America have one street that is dedicated as "the" trick-or-treat street. This is the place for all the kids to go door to door dressed up as their favorite characters and ask for candy. We live on that street in Las Vegas, NM. The first few years we were here, we weren't prepared to turn off the lights and didn't hand out candy.

But in the last few years, we have got into the spirit of things and each year have done something different to decorate our house. The first year, we barely decorated the porch, but created a giant spider's web by tying reflective rope between the 2 big trees in front of our house and completed it with a big, hairy spider. We didn't take photos of the spider's web, but here is our front porch as we waited for trick-or-treaters:

Last year, inspired by my misophonia (a condition characterized by an intense dislike or aversion to specific sounds, particularly those associated with eating, such as chewing, slurping, or crunching) I created a huge carnival-style mouth out of cardboard and installed it at the top of the steps to our porch, where the kids had to come to get their candy. This time we took a photo:

This year, I asked myself what would scare kids the most. What do they want more than anything else at Halloween? What would be devastating not to receive?

The answer that came to me, dear reader?

CANDY

So I came up with the idea to "scare" kids with vegetables.

HA!

The plan was to decorate the front lawn with giant vegetables and hang a sign on the porch that says "veggie stand". Then, when the kids came up to the porch, we'd have a large bowl with a lid and remove it to find...veggies!

Of course, we'd have "normal" treats to hand out after the kids react to the veggies.

The plan has evolved a little since that initial idea, and now, to encourage the kids to come to the porch, half the lawn decorations will be vegetables and half will be oversized candy bars. The "Veggie Stand" sign will still hang over the porch, and once they get to the porch, we will have 2 covered bowls. One will have a sign that says "trick" and the other will have a sign that says "treat". The kids will have to choose which one, but if they choose the vegetable bowl (which could be labeled as either "trick" or "treat" depending on how the night is going), we will still give them the option to take candy. After all, we don't want our house to be egged or to be TP-ed!

Several people whom I've told about this idea think it is hilarious.

Several people whom I've told think the kids will be confused.

Several people whom I've told think it is a lame idea.

"The proof is in the pudding," as my dad used to say.

I spent the past week making the decorations - full disclosure, it took far more time than I anticipated! Making decorations by hand is much more involved than buying them! Anyway, this coming week, I'll put all the decorations up, and then we'll see how Halloween goes.

Stay tuned for a my next post, "Trick or Treat 2025 (Part Two)" coming after Halloween!

In the meantime, here are photos of the decorations ready to be put out: