At the risk of sounding like a curmudgeon, can I just say my second least favorite holiday is just a few days away. Right after the 4th of July, Halloween is the next holiday I despise. I know lots of you will think I’m crazy but hear me out. Because after a week of working at a stressful job, answering the doorbell 700 times between dusk and 10:00 p.m. isn’t exactly my idea of a prelude to a relaxing weekend. Then there are all those dressed-up goblins, sugared up, flapping their arms, squealing like banshees and getting Sam all riled up, dropping candy everywhere and generally being…well, being little kids with sky-high energy. And don’t get me started on those over 4 ft. tall–they should automatically be barred from trick-or-treating, but that’s a whole ‘nuther subject. What is it about little kids who are otherwise fairly charming to be around, nice even (dare I say, cute?) who turn into the Zombie Apocalypse on Halloween? They may look like little princesses and action figures in costumes, but trust me they are just blood sucking zombies waiting to attack and freak you out.
All those masked strangers with their bags of candy can stress out our pets. Apart from the doorbell being the ultimate dog whistle, strangers that don’t look human in normal an sense of the word showing up ringing the door bell all night long can freak out a poor dog. Truth be told, they kind of freak me out too. Any other day of the year you’d be accused of being crazy answering your door for disguised strangers at night. I dunno, call me paranoid. But think about it. It kind of makes sense, doesn’t it?
Then there’s the idea of getting ready to sit down to a nice relaxing meal on a Friday evening after a rough week and then having to get up immediately to answer the door (so much for that hot meal), corral the dog away from said door all the while keeping that bowl of tasty candy away from a snooping long nose that make this holiday more than just slightly unpleasant.
We all know that chocolate can be poisonous for dogs, and then there’s that potential for knocking over the adorably carved pumpkin with the candle in it (assuming of course the neighborhood squirrels haven’t completely destroyed it yet) while you’re trying to keep the dog in the house without running after little Ashley or Micah and definitely keeping him out of the candy bowl. Let’s just say fire, chocolate and artificial sweeteners = a very bad combo for dogs and a disaster just waiting to happen.
So think about your fur-baby and the potential for danger this Halloween. If possible, keep your pet in a separate room away from those masked strangers and from running out of the house after all those little zombies. Keep the candy away from your pets and definitely rethink those candles on the front porch. Make sure you have a safe and happy Halloween, just don’t eat all the Snickers bars–save some for Thanksgiving between football games and sitting down to eat that turkey and pumpkin pie. 🐾
Live, love, bark! 🐾
I think many people find it irritating to have loads of kids turning up at the door all evening.
It wouldn’t be so bad if the kids now days weren’t so self-absorbed and entitled…just like their parents.:(
Sigh.
I love howl-o-ween, but I agree with you, to answer the door 87 times per minute is a challenge. Specially when I not even have the time to calm the dog till the next Dracula-Zombie-Batman-whatever is on the door. Every year we plan to celebrate a little at home, with a spooky meal and a scary movie, but by now I never saw a movie nor had a warm meal :o(
Yeah, the best laid plans and all that. 🙂 Hope your ‘howliday’ is a good one.
I am so lucky that almost no one trick-or-treats on our block so the Girls and I will be heading to my parents’ where no one does 🙂 Hope you survive it!
Even if the doorbell only rings 10 times, it’ll be 10 times too many for my taste. I just want to have a nice dinner, a good glass of red wine and unwind while watching Bill Maher. Is that too much to ask of zombies? Enjoy your visit with the parents.
The Girls and I had a great time. Mom and Dad had to go hand out candy at my brother’s house and we all watched TV with their miniture poodle Jessie and snuggled 🙂 Hope you survived 🙂
Good for you! We survived and even though the weather was very mild, not nearly the number of mini-zombies visited us (could they have read my post? LOL). When I got home a fair number of them were making the rounds though. Sam and I saw loads of witches and goblins before it was even close to dark and were hoping the Wizard of Oz would be on TV–that would have been perfect. Where’s TBS when you need them? 😉
LOL! Glad it was fairly quite there too!
I totally agree! Imagine at my house…. I don’t get 700, but I’ll get 1. And that’s really freaky. Why is just one person out trick or treating? Or, is it someone using the holiday to bust thru the door? So, do I tuck my body guard, aka Rudder, away in the guest room, or do I just coral him should any little legitimate Goblins show up?
LOL, personally, I’d let him ‘help’ answer the door. I’m still convinced Puck & Eliot were the reason no one came to the door when they were around, zombies or not! 🙂
I love Halloween but I’m with you on the creepy kid thing!