I admit that I am not a Stepford wife. I frequently make fun of women that are. But I do have one secret area of my life that could possibly be a tad Stepfordish (and yes - that is a word, because I just made it up!)

We waited excitedly for Halloween all year long when I was a kid. In my mind, Halloween was a bigger deal than Christmas. All that free candy! We lived on the outskirts of a tiny town and would hit the dozen or so houses there and then drive to the next biggest town to claim our big haul.

My favorite costume was a store-bought Sylvester the Cat. I don’t know why I loved being him so much. I went as that cat for 3 years in a row. The ironic part? I had a lisp when I was kid and people used to call me Sylvester to make fun of me. That didn’t taint my love for him though.

One year we didn’t get to go trick or treating because it was raining too hard. To ease our disappointment, Mom let my sister and I circle the house - knocking on the back door and then the front - multiple times while she gave us candy. I was okay with that. A chocolate bar is a chocolate bar. And, I got to be Sylvester.

I’ve only dressed up twice since I’ve been an adult. Years ago I was Wednesday from the Addam’s Family and a few years ago I went as an alien. When I ordered the latex alien head it didn’t occur to me that it might be too hot here to wear it. It came with latex hands and feet too. I wore it with a giant flannel jacket and walked around with the kids. I sweated my ass off and to make it worthwhile, I trick or treated for candy too.

Now that I'm an adult, I love Halloween for a completely different reason than I did as a child. When I was a kid, I loved the gobs of candy I'd take home and then gorge on while my mother wasn't looking.
As an adult, I love the kids. The costumes, the little dragons, the little princesses (or, in the case of one creative little girl, a dead zombie princess complete with murder weapons), and the old school ones of TMNT, Superman, Batman, etc.
I love to sit outside and hand out candy. Really, I take a blanket outside, set myself up with an extra blanket for warmth, a bowl of candy, and a lantern so the kids know to hit my house on their way by.
I even give candy to the teenagers, as long as their dressed up. No costume, no candy; I know, it makes me evil and mean, but dammit, it's Halloween! Dress up!
I had planned on being a saloon girl this year, but that kind of fell through. So, now, I'm just going to do heavy make up and hand out my candy like a good girl.
I'm not sure my fellow townspeople could handle me in a corset, heels, and fishnets... not to mention the fact I planned on carrying around a huge gin bottle with me (don't be crazy, it'd be full of water. Mainly because I'd have drank the gin already!)