My favorite part of Halloween

True confession time … other than eating candy, I’m not really that interested in Halloween.

And since I’m trying not to eat as much candy, a lot of ours winds up in my wife’s or my office. (Plus my gym posted a chart of how many burpees you need to do to make up for each type of candy. Spoiler: a lot.)

I outgrew interest in dressing up when I was 12 or 13, and was never really into elaborate costumes, anyway. “Baseball player” was about my stride, although sometimes I’d switch it up and go “football player.”

Ghosts, goblins, witches, spiders … not really anything I’m into. I’ve never had any interest in horror movies, as I don’t find being scared to death entertaining.

I used to like carving pumpkins, but not they’re something I like to eat in bread or pie.

Yes, I’m a stick in the mud, but there’s one part of Halloween I enjoy, and wasn’t ever sure I would.

Back when I lived in apartments, I’d grab some candy for Halloween, but second-floor apartments don’t draw a lot of trick-or-treaters. That’s why I always got peanut butter cups, since somebody had to eat what I didn’t give away, right?

Then after I got married, my wife and I moved into our first house, and that first Halloween, the neighborhood kids started coming … and coming … and coming. There were so many I had to go to CVS twice that night for more supplies.

But I liked it.

I often think adults in Halloween costumes are silly, but little kids in costume are cute. I’ll open the door, and they’ll have their bags or pumpkins out.

Some of them are kind of shy, while others jockey for position, but they all get a piece of candy as I say, “Here you go!” Every now and then, you hear a parent in the distance say, “Make sure to say thank you!” which leads to a muffled “Thank you.”

I even find the teenagers barely in costume, if in costume at all by that point, amusing.

They’re all happy, and it’s fun to make people happy.

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