Halloween Party at School

(This post was written early in the day.)



Unintended Reasons why today will be scary:

1. It’s Friday, and the kids are already crazy on Fridays.
2. The kids are already scaring each other with masks and costumes.
3. We’re turning off the lights, lighting candles, and giving them sugar.




My job today is to sit at the front table, handing out candy. A nice rest for me, and so exciting for the kids! The flavors of hard candy I have in my basket are: chocolate, apple, grape, pineapple, banana, mint, “black” (sugar, I’m told), and plum (which tastes like skunk~unfortunate, really). They seem to like them. I can't say I'm a fan.



Things I saw today:

1. One fire-obsessed kid wearing 2 masks and nearly catching one on fire many times.
2. A kid skipping and clapping, and full-out singing! He was like a one-man musical show… BEFORE candy! I want that kind of energy!

For it being their first Halloween, they’ve learned the point of Trick-or-Treat very fast. Get there first to get the best candy!



They look thrilled, don't they? They were smiling and laughing until the moment we said "picture". Truly.



Starting to get into it...



There are the kids I know!



Apparently they line up for everything, even pictures.



I'm a fan of the crazy witch with the axe. I really thought someone might lose an eye by that thing.



Children and fire, another fabulous idea. Candy decided that we would set the mood by turning off the lights and making things scary by only using candles. She thought that the paper cups that we use for coffee and such would okay for the tapers to sit in, but without sand or something added for weight and to keep the candles upright, they kept falling over. Her solution was to turn the paper cups upside down, punch a hole in the bottom of the cup, and stick the candle through the hole.

Not a terrible idea in theory, but the candles burned quickly, so they couldn't touch the table beneath for very long, so they kept pulling them out, so that they were only barely through the hole. The real problem came when the candles burned down to the cup bottom. Flame/hot wax and paper cup bottoms don't work well together.

Why we used candles, not flashlights, I don't know. I felt like I was watching a train wreck about to happen, and trying to stop the train by jabbing at it with a toothpick. I guess I can only do so much. What could possibly go wrong?