The Baby Expert: Halloween Fell on a Saturday this Year

Trick or treating is something just about every kid in America experiences. In Taiwan, it’s a little different. While Halloween is something most people know about and elementary schools let students dress up, going door to door trick or treating is something that doesn’t really happen. And that’s a real shame, because I think it’s something just as important as dressing up.

That’s why, when the wife’s niece brought up the idea of organizing a trick or treating event for this past Saturday, I jumped at the idea. My wife’s parents, her two older sisters, younger brother, cousins, and us all live within a 2 minute walking radius of each other. The idea was to have the kids go from home to home collecting treats, with a total of 6 stops.

We got a pumpkin outfit for Caitlyn and while it wasn’t mandated that adults dress up, it was encouraged. I’m not really one for elaborate costumes; in fact, my shining moment probably came in preschool when my mom made me a Batman costume. It was from one of those template patterns you can buy at a fabric store and then cut and sew yourself. It looked nothing like the costume Batman wore, but thankfully, my five-year-old self wasn’t really self-conscious yet, and I thought it pretty cool.

Not wanting to be a party pooper, I convinced the wife to wear a skeleton shirt we both had. Never mind that it was actually a shirt promoting Kimlan soy sauce, the point was that it had bones on it and bones are Halloweeny. More importantly, we wouldn't have to go out now and look for costumes. Extremely enticing for lazy people like us.

While our trick or treating event might not have been exactly how we'd do it in America, it was pretty close. More importantly, the kids all had a blast, and we had a nice dinner party afterwards with lots of catered bbq. Maybe next year, if we do this again, I’ll actually put some effort into putting together a costume. At least I decorated the house. That counts for something, right?