What do you like to do for Halloween?  I always recite the poem that my oldest brother John wrote for my little sister Edwina in her Poetry book (a Dutch tradition) as October 31st is her birthday..."Witches, Ghosts and Goblins that scream...a Princess is born on Halloween...and as the years fly quickly past, she'll be all grown my Queen at last".  At least this is all that I can remember and I always find myself reciting the words at some time during the day.  This year that poem held special meaning for me!  But what to do with the kids on this day.  Momma has a real aversion to letting her kiddos go door to door to gather up candy from strangers!  I know that as a child my family ran door to door all over the neighbourhood gathering up pillow cases full of candy.  Having few resources our widowed Mother would collect it all up and we would find ourselves eating Halloween kisses in our lunch at school well past Christmas.  Getting a candy apple was beyond belief and I still have to buy one at the fair every year just for old times sake as no-one hands those out anymore!  But times were different and seemingly much safer way back then.  Living in the country we do not have anyone close by and walking down gravel roads in the dark is not safe.  One of our neighbours did a "reverse" trick or treat and dropped in to visit and delivered bags of candy.  This was an unexpected surprise and greatly appreciated by the littles.  In the past on the weekend nearest to the actual date, I would make the trip to my sisters place to drop in wearing costumes and have her make a fuss over Mark in his costume.  With Mark in school it is not as easy as in the past since she is an hour drive away and school starts early.  This family's solution is to make it a family event with spider hats, pumpkin carving, seed roasting and tasting and a visit to the local recreation center for a free beef on a bun and community service awareness display.  The kids get to go station to station to learn about community programs and pick up loot bags of refrigerator magnets, colouring books and other odds and sods that are handed out by the representatives.  Less candy and yet still lots of fun.  They especially loved meeting the local volunteer fire department staff and getting a red fire hat to take home!  So far they are happy and are not aware that other kids do it differently.  Hopefully they will never catch on to the old tradition of bringing home bags of candy...not a good idea anyway.  Am I the Grinch who stole Halloween?  Maybe...just maybe, but I do not care...it's working for us so far!