I love Halloween! I grew up on a block with a million kids my age. Trick-or-treating was my favorite activity of the year. It felt like everything was for and about kids, fun and candy and the whole big world was ours for one night only. I’m happy to say that my kids get to experience that too. There are tons of families on our street, and we trick-or-treat with a big group of neighbors — the bigger kids sprinting for hours and the smaller kids eventually getting carried home.

On top of that fun, our neighbors really understand the assignment. We live in an old neighborhood where the houses are a bit eerie already, and lots of houses really go all out with decor to make the night memorable for the kids (and kids at heart). There are smoke machines, graveyards, giant skeletons, coffins, light-up skull arches, and every kind of Halloween song and sound effect you can imagine. (Toccata and Fugue in D Minor is my favorite.) Five houses down, two families dress up in old diner uniforms and serve hot dogs from their shared driveway.

Like many of you, probably, it made me both sad and thankful last year when Dave reminded those of us raising little kids that this period of life is fleeting. This year, with busy school schedules and our conferences falling in October, my husband and I looked at the calendar at the beginning of the month and realized that there weren’t any good days to do our annual pilgrimage to the pumpkin patch, where we all obsess over each pumpkin’s stem and make sure we go home with at least one Bert and one Ernie. We ended up finding a one-hour window late one Sunday afternoon and snuck it in. But then we were in for another surprise when one kid wanted to recycle last year’s costume, and the other chose a costume just 4 days ago. What is happening?

I hate to admit it, but our years of both kids excitedly skipping from door to door are numbered. And, more broadly, I find myself constantly thinking about how short this time with “little” kids is and feeling so thankful for the stage we’re in — all while I look forward to (hopefully) a little more sleep and a little less laundry in my future.

Anyway, this is all to say, I echo Dave’s encouragement: “If you are still in the mode of celebrating Halloween with your family and neighbors, I encourage you to enjoy those moments while you still can!” The days are long, but the years are short. Happy Halloween!

– Meredith Ervine