Deborah Woehr

How old were you when you decided that trick-or-treating was uncool? I was 15 and would have gone out again if another girl hadn’t ruined my fun by saying, “Aren’t you a little old for that?” I swear, some people can be such killjoys.

Both my kids decided that they didn’t want to wear a costume or go trick-or-treating this year, which is highly unusual because both of them have a healthy sweet tooth. There was no particular reason. They just didn’t want to go. So I shrugged my shoulders and brought out a gingerbread haunted house kit to assemble and decorate.

I figured that if we weren’t going to do the trick-or-treat thing, we could start a new tradition. It sounded like a good idea until I tried to put the thing together. Did I tell you that I’ve never attempted to make one of these things before? I did manage to get the sides and most of the roof glued together with frosting, although the walls liked to slide around.

Then I set the boys loose on it. About a minute passed before the oldest cried out, “You broke the house!”

“No, I didn’t!” the youngest argued.

Uh-oh, I thought before I returned to the dining room to assess the damage. The house was totaled. Not a single wall stood. Frosting smeared every surface. My youngest cheerfully munched on one of the walls and proclaimed that the cookie was too hard.

Our haunted house project got scrapped and sent to the garbage can outside before our resident rat (who we’ve yet to banish and/or kill) can have a midnight snack.

I hope you all have/had a delightful Halloween!