I love everything about Halloween [1]. From the creative and cute costumes [2], endless scary movie marathons [3], and creepy decorations [4] to the haunted house outings and the trick-or-treating, I go all out every year. Since my kids are still pretty young (4 and 6), I have to keep my love for all things spooky in check, but that definitely doesn't mean I still don't have a little festive fun with them. And one of my very favourite Halloween traditions I started with my kids is playing a harmless prank on them [5] every year.
I pick a day during the month of October (I don't do this on actual Halloween because they'll see it coming, so I pick a different day every year) and run to the dollar store to buy a ton of fake bugs, spider rings, and more. While my kids are still sound asleep, I tiptoe into their dark bedrooms and carefully place all of these pretend bugs on their beds. I tiptoe back out, get back into my own bed, and fall back asleep. And every year, my husband and I are woken up by their surprised screams and calls for help once they discover what's all over their beds.
"Ahhhhh! Get off of me!" I hear them yell. They run down the hallway and away from the bugs as fast as they can before quickly remembering the annual prank [7] their dear old mom plays on them year after year. They then start belly laughing uncontrollably and run to check what was put in the other's bed. The hilarity is contagious and quickly fills out whole house with the Halloween spirit [8].
"Mom! You got us again!" they always say over breakfast that morning [9] before carefully devising a plan to "get mom back." They never do, of course, but just listening to their imaginations think up funny Halloween pranks to play on me (like we're in our very own prank war) makes me feel like a kid again. It makes them even more excited for trick-or-treating [10], and I get to relive the innocent joys of the Halloween season all over again.
I'm going to keep this family tradition going as long as I can — even when my children are teenagers (I can't wait for those eye-rolls and to hear, "Mom, you're so embarrassing"). Because no matter how old they get, I always want to remember to be silly together, because the trick part can be just as good (if not better) than the treats.