Halloween Block Party

Our neighborhood had a Halloween party, and probably 40 people showed up. A couple families in the one cul de sac on our street organize the event each year (plus one in the Spring); they supply the hot dogs and hamburgers, and everyone else brings sides and desserts.

It’s a good way to meet the folks on our street, especially new neighbors. When I introduced myself to the new neighbors I gave my address number as well as my name. Interestingly, I seem to be the only person who does this. Everyone else describes their house, “We’re in the blue house, down there, with the white van in the driveway.”

There were around a dozen families at the gathering, with about 15-20 kids between the ages of 1 and 9 years. My 6 year old was feeling shy and didn’t want to join the other kids in play. He and my 3 year old just ran around me chasing each other. We were there about an hour before they actually made contact with the other kids, but once they did, they were fully into running around with the others.

About half the kids were in their Halloween costumes, and a few adults were, too. The funniest thing about the gathering was that the kids spent most of the time playing soccer. There were two soccer balls being kicked around the cul de sac, with kids in colorful costumes chasing them around.

The food was good. (There were some delicious baked beans that I’d have loved to get the recipe.) What little of the chat I could get into was good too, but it’s hard to really get into conversations when you have to keep a close eye on your kids in the middle of an unorganized soccer game on a paved road. The younger kids were right in the middle of the action with the older kids, and a kicked ball can really wallop a 3 year old. There were several close calls, but fortunately, no one got smacked by a ball or another running kid.

We started walking back to our house when the sun went down. My boys were excited and worked up, so it took a lot of herding to get them both into bed. But they were so tired that once they actually laid down, I think they were asleep within a minute.

Bullgrit
bullgrit@totalbullgrit.com