Is it over yet?

Halloween, with its pre-parties and weekend celebrations and day care parties and school parties, is getting to be one long-ass holiday. It's still my all time favorite, but I'm glad it's over for this year. Clementine was still just a little too young to toally understand what was going on, and she didn't dig the whole trick-or-treating nearly as much as giving out the candy. I think she thought of herself as some amazing celebrity or Christ child that costumed masses made pilgrimages to see, and she stood at the door for a full hour, candy in hand, waiting to see who would come next. She carefully examined all the costumes before dropping candy into the pillow cases and pumpkins, and when the trick-or-treaters slowed to a trickle, she started handing out candy to all the people-like decorations in the house.

Eventually, there were no more kids around, though Clementine didn't give up until we dragged her upstairs and put her, crying, in the bath.

I'm glad she was into the giving out candy thing because hardly anyone in my neighborhood was giving out candy. It's a big issue in my neighborhood because the objection is that too many people come over from Detroit (we live two blocks north of 8 Mile, the well-known literal and metaphorical dividing line between city and suburbs). The issue, simply put, is racial, though I think my neighbors would say it's more about the haves and the have-nots. I don't want to make a bigger deal out of Halloween than it is--give out candy if you want to, and it's really none of my business. I get it that times are tough and not everyone has disposable income with which to buy candy to give to total strangers. I do think if you are taking your kids out to get goodies you should probably put that same goodwill back into the universe by doing the same, but I'm not the Halloween police.

What disturbs me most about my neighborhood is the general attitude about how the traffic from Detroit has ruined the neighborhood feel of the holiday. A neighbor last night said to me she had to take her kids to another neighborhood to trick-or-treat because all the "Detroiters" (and anyone living in Michigan duing election season knows this is a code word, but at least they aren't using the language they normally do to discribe people of color) have ruined the celebration here. She must not be the only one who feels that way because I could only see 4 houses with lights on anywhere near our house, and I know many of the people in darkened houses were home and hiding. And it's not that I don't get their frustration--mini-vans full of kids (and no kidding on the full--they take the seats out and cram as many kids as possible in, which is a recipe for disaster) swarm the streets of our white trash suburb, and the parents are sometimes there trick-or-treating with their own bags or bags for someone "in the car." But, really, who can blame them? They come from neighborhoods where even fewer people give out candy, and it may not even be that safe to begin with. The spirit of the holiday demands that any goblin or witch or Spiderman who comes to your door get a little treat, and I feel strongly about honoring that no matter what. These issues of territory and race aren't children's issues, so why should they pay the price?

But I wonder how I'll feel next year when staying in the neighborhood means Clementine won't get to do as much door-to-door trick-or-treating? I want to be sure one of us is at home to give out candy, but I want to be sure Clementine can enjoy the holiday as well. Guess we'll have a year to think about it.

Today is Dia de los Muertos, and we're going to head down to Mexicantown to see the oferendas and other celebrations. I'm pumped for this but wish there was going to be a parade...