We are headed into the best 62 days of the year. The Strange household loves the holidays. And we are kicking off the holiday season with Halloween in two weeks. For those that do not consider Halloween a holiday, please leave this blog now. Halloween just brings out the fun in all of us. Plus… the provocative costumes ;-).
My wife is very into the holidays, she loves the full family experience. One of the many reasons why I love her. Don’t tell her this though. We have like 10 pumpkins around the house, and I’m certain more will join us this weekend.
Lorelei and I try to dress the whole family up in the same theme every year. Usually, she picks Star Wars as the theme (geez, I’m not even a few paragraphs in, and I’m already lying about my nerdiness.)
This past weekend we took the kids to one of those pop-up Halloween stores. It was in the Stamford Mall. I have not been to a mall in close to a decade, so naturally, I was ecstatic to shop and people watch!!!!
Cameron wanted to be a dragon this year. So I knew we would probably not have a family theme. He found his costume right away. The amazing staff at the store said we can try on the costumes before we buy them. Cameron did not take his off and walked around the Stamford Mall with it on. He was on cloud nine. I was worried he would ruin the costume, and I would have to buy him another one at fifty dollars a pop. I mean, when I was a kid you bought a mask for $1.99 at fuckin Donahue’s (all Silver Lakers know what I’m talking about).
I found a section in the store selling Cobra Kai costumes. I immediately had a boner. I bought a t-shirt that I will value for a very long time. If you have not invested the time into watching this classic on the YouTube channel, I suggest you do it.
Lorelei and I will go as peanut butter and jelly. Not our number one choice but it’ll do this year. We live in a great neighborhood where there are lots of kids and everyone is involved with Halloween.
Typically, I go out with the kids to a few houses in our neighborhood. Lorelei usually makes plans to meet up with other moms and kids. This would mean that I would have to be “nice and social”, and we all know that I hate people, so I head home at that point to give out the candy.
I usually set up shop at the bottom of the driveway. I have the candy, and I have beer. It really is a special night. It’s like the Super Bowl for me. I would be depressed for a year if it rained on Halloween.
We have a wide driveway with motion sensor lights. Since we have moved in, I have always wanted to dress up like the clown from the movie “IT”. I would sit on a lawn chair in the middle of the driveway with the candy next to me. The lights would go on when they enter the driveway, and they would see me… the kids would scream and the adults would scream. Hahahahaha. Lorelei squashes the idea every year. She doesn’t even think it’s funny. I ask this again…. why did she marry me????
I know I’m the biggest little kid in the world. But I also just want to make a few parents laugh. Just so when they drive past my house they think, “there’s the idiot who scared the kids on Halloween… but it was fuckin funny… nice guy”. #lifegoals.
As a parent, you always want to give your children the best memories of each holiday. You want it to be better than your childhood. I had a great childhood and so many great memories. So, tipping them is always very hard.
So at the end of the night, when I’m putting my kids to bed and I ask them “how was your Halloween this year?” I always hope they say, “it was amazing Dad, thank you. I love you, goodnight.”
Native New Yorker, now living in Connecticut. Husband, and father of two amazing boys. Kidney transplant recipient, and a big supporter of organ donation #donatelife. Mortgage banker, but not by choice. In my free time, I enjoy golf, reading (especially presidential biographies), and finding that hole in the wall restaurant that has great food.